That Thing Called Tadhana

At my wedding, my bridesmaid shamelessly flaunted my wedding ring. Then she had the audacity to put on a pitiful act right in front of me. My husband dismissed it as a trivial matter and scolded me for overreacting. Without hesitation, I left him and filed for divorce. If these two shameless people were so fond of each other, they could have each other.

My car was passing by the entrance of the office when I saw both my sisters 'wrestling' vigorously with a bum. I wasn't surprised, however, even recording a video of it and sending it to the biggest news outlet of the country, saying, "I want it seen across the world before 7pm." After all, in my last life, those two sisters were so keen to please Harold Langford that they allowed him to steal my birthright all he wanted. I bore with it because they were family, and ended up resting in pieces. But now that I had a second chance, I would return the favor. At the company gala, Harold once again took my seat as he snorted at me haughtily. "Hmph! If Ellie and Jennie didn't insist on showing you how the world works, a poor college student like you wouldn't even make it through the front door!" "Know your place and don't cause me trouble, or they will have you beaten to a pulp!" Seeing that he was still running his mouth, I kicked him three feet away as I chuckled. "Who do you think you are? How dare you strut when you're just a gigolo who only knows how to please hags!"

After I was reborn, I dumped the cheating bastard and married his older twin brother. But as it turns out, I still picked the wrong man. In my past life, I married Maxwell Vaughan, the younger twin. Not long after our wedding, he started sleeping with Kelly Sloan, the maid's daughter. For her, he set the house on fire while I was sleeping. I woke up burned beyond recognition. Amoura, the world-famous lingerie brand, dropped me overnight. Just like that, my modeling career was over. This time, I chose Charlie Vaughan, the older twin. We were in sync and deeply in love. I thought I'd finally made it, that I'd rise to the top and become the supermodel I was meant to be. But the night before my Amoura runway show, my face was burned again. Charlie uncovered the truth quickly and had Maxwell arrested. For a moment, I thought I'd made the right choice this time. Six years later, I overhear something I was never meant to hear as Charlie tucks our sons, Declan and Dylan Vaughan, into bed. "Dad, Uncle Max already took the fall for Kelly. So why did she have to leave the country? Couldn't she have stayed here with us?" "Yeah, Dad. We still want Kelly to be our mom. We hate that freak!" Charlie pulls Declan and Dylan into his arms. His gaze softens with sorrow, then hardens with quiet resolve. "I already betrayed your mom once for Kelly. I'll spend the rest of my life to make it right." A rush of emotion surged through me, the pain cutting deeper than the fire ever did. For six years of marriage and eight years of love, I've been nothing more than a joke. Only now do I see it—Charlie loved Kelly all along, just like Maxwell did. Our marriage was nothing more than a matter of convenience. Even Declan and Dylan call me a freak and wish Kelly were their mother. If that's how it is, then so be it. I'm done with all three of them.

Noong unang beses na nakita ni Euphie ang lalaki, naisip niya: Love at first sight ba iyon? O isang nakatalagang soul mate? Pag-uwi niya, nakita niya ang isang lumang larawan ng isang matangkad at guwapong lalaki. Naglakbay siya pabalik sa panahon sa larawan, nakilala ang lalaking iyon, at natagpuan ang sagot sa tanong na iyon. Inisip niya ang lahat, ang kanyang kasintahan.

Ever since her nonbiological Mom died, she loathed and blamed herself for that. Avery Maureen Del Hera escaped home when she thought her father whom she grew up with wanted her to go to States, and even be with her biological parents, without him fighting for her. Hence, that's the bare part of the story. When she escaped home, she found a place . . . with the help of her own fate. A zone-like place, literally, with its wide and grandeur sceneries, isolated from the world. It's the Zone of Yavanna, or how the Zoners called it as Forest Survival. It definitely comes with names. Yet she eventually held one while being in there, a codename- a new identity: Cosimia. Her tale begins right at that moment. A journey of being the real sleeping beauty, for she's never awakened with the truth that she's been lost all along. She may have sought where she belongs, but did she see where it will lead her? In this forest that bargains life, away from the cruelty of death, one will strive for the betterment of herself, to think of what will become of her. Here's the thing, she's never a Del Hera, yes, but did she know, too, she's never Avery Maureen?

At my coming-of-age ceremony, I confessed my feelings to Uncle Daniel, who wasn't blood-related to me. Yet, he sent me overseas to study. Later on, I was diagnosed with brain cancer. The headaches were brutal. Left without a choice, I turned to him for help. Yet, his first love accused me of being wasted abroad. Said I got into stuff. Claimed my pain were just withdrawals. He believed her and dragged me back home. He locked me up in the family's abandoned villa atop the mountains, guards watching me around the clock. With treatment delayed, my headaches grew worse. It was a complete nightmare. One night, I couldn't take it anymore. I quietly slipped out of the window and jumped. One year after my death, he finally remembers me.

As my due date approaches, my husband's precious mistress falls into the water at a banquet. After being rescued, she immediately accuses me of pushing her. To "avenge" her, he throws me into a modified stainless steel water tank. I beg him, pleading for the sake of our unborn children. But he only sneers. "Don't try to use the babies to guilt me! You've still got a week before you're due. I know exactly how vicious you are—any child of yours would be just as rotten. Stay in there and reflect on your behavior. I'll let you out when you finally admit you're wrong!" Five days later, my husband returns home from a night out with his mistress, calling for me to come downstairs and serve them, as always. He doesn't know that my babies and I have already rotted beyond recognition.

Isang malaking eskandalo ang kakaharapin ni Danerie, isang kilalang mayaman at CEO ng malalaking kompanya. Ang pagtakas niya sa kaniyang mismong kasal ang magiging simula ng kalbaryong kakaharapin niya sa kaniyang buhay at maglalagay sa alanganin sa lahat ng pinaghirapan niya. DISCLAIMER This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All rights reserved | Adrasteia Zachry Plagiarism is a crime.

I thought I was just an ordinary girl in a quiet town. Then I met Aiden Wolfe. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever known quiet, mysterious, and hiding something wild beneath his skin. I should’ve stayed away. Everyone warned me. But something about him pulled me in… and when he bit me, my whole world changed. Now I feel fire in my veins. I see things I shouldn’t. Creatures that shouldn’t exist. I’m being hunted for something I don’t even understand and Aiden may be the only one who can help me survive. This isn’t the life I chose. But the fire? The fire chose me.

My daughter’s kindergarten held a family event, and I rushed there, only to see her holding hands with my wife’s male secretary. “Daddy,” she said, “I wish our family could stay like this forever.” I watched as the three of them hugged, radiant with happiness. Suddenly, exhaustion washed over me. Later, I filed for divorce. Then I left to teach in rural villages for thirty years. If I couldn’t light the lamp in my own home, I’d at least illuminate the path for others.