The Books I Read

“I don't want to be like this anymore!”, Maria shouted hysterically. Maria, a successful businesswoman of her age, broke down in tears because of the unusual feelings she got after she achieved her dream of fame. She got everything---- money, fame, and boosting career but she can't be happy. Her love life fell when she started reaching her dreams. She left George over her career even though she got his full support. George was Maria's first love, a man of dignity, and love and respected Maria on every decision but the only problem was he was contented with his career--- a turn-off for a woman that chased dreams. Dreams without happiness were nothing but only a piece of a show-off for other people. Will Maria feel the happiness she was looking for in the dream she achieved? Or she will stay a successful but unhappy woman in life?

From a journalist to a nominee for CEO by her husband, perhaps it's just pure luck and fate that she's met such a good man, or is it really? After her wedding night with her husband, the police arrive to whisk away her husband with a strong case against him, but that's just the beginning, a mysterious man watches from afar with anger all over and then Chloe meets with her college crush except this time, he's her brother-in-law??? A relationship that leads to a sizzling affair with a childhood crush who thinks he can buy love, a chaotic in-laws with secrets to hide, a husband in jail witg another family, a baby on the way and a mysterious person who carefully plans the family down fall, will Chloe be able to come out alive and find true love, who is the mysterious person and why does he stand in the way of her ?

Will a maton girl with a stone heart break her own forbidden rule? Will someone can tame and control her uncontrolled wall? Florencia is not an ordinary girl. She's not prim and proper. She moved like a real man, surrounded by a men. But... She met this cold and ruthless rich man.. one looked at him and she feels like turning.. turning into a person she doesn't know where to came from. Will she gives in? Or will she still fought for her beliefs not to be tame by someone?

Keira Nathania, si gadis introvert berumur 16 tahun yang tumbuh besar di sebuah panti bernama Dream High. Walaupun serba kekurangan ia sangat senang tinggal di tempat itu. Karena baginya tempat itu mengajarkan arti dari kesederhanaan, kesabaran, dan keikhlasan. Kasih sayang yang teramat cukup pun ia dapatkan dari panti itu. Di sekolah, dia tidak pernah membuat masalah atau mendapat masalah, baik secara akademis, hubungan dengan teman-temannya, maupun hubungan dengan guru-gurunya. Namun, kondisinya yang baik-baik saja seketika berubah. Bermetamorfosa menghadirkan luka dan lara. Tak sesuai keinginannya. Keira harus menerima pil pahit, bahwa ia telah dibully oleh temannya, Laura. Semua ini bermula ketika Keira mengetahui fakta bahwa Laura menjadi penyebab meninggalnya Tsania, teman Keira. Untuk menutupi kejahatannya, Laura pun terus mengancam Keira. Pembullyan, kesedihan, dan cemoohan yang dirasakan Keira dari orang yang selalu merisaknya, tak disangka mengantarkannya kepada peristiwa besar yang menegangkan dan mengubah kehidupannya. Dan ketika itu Keira tak disangka menyerah akan hidupnya bunuh diri di atas jembatan dan menenggelamkan diri ke laut. Namun seseorang telah menyelamatkannya. Sang kakak, Karin yang merupakan kembarannya Keira. Bertahun-tahun lamanya ia hadir dan menolong Keira yang sudah tenggelam di laut. Namun Karin berakhir dengan kehilangan ingatannya sedangkan Keira selamat. Akhirnya Karin yang disangka meninggal padahal ia lupa ingatan dan sembunyi di suatu tempat. Di sisi lain Keira diangkat menjadi anak angkat ibu Karin yang sedang mencari informasi tentang saudara kembar anak angkatnya. Keira menjalani kehidupan sebagai Karin, ia merasa bahagia. Hadirnya dua sahabat yang peduli dengannya dan dua sosok pria yaitu Rakha dan Nathan yang mewarnai hari-harinya. Akan tetapi dibalik kebahagiaan, kegelisahan pun cukup menghantui Keira. Permusuhan dimulai kembali ketika sosok teman lama pindah ke sekolah yang sama dan berusaha untuk membocorkan identitas Keira yang sebenarnya. Namun tak disangka sang kakak yaitu Karin muncul kembali dan menyelamatkan sang adik dari Laura yang selalu menindasnya.

I go deaf in an attempt to save James Duncan. He falls to his knees before my parents and begs them to let me marry him. He says he'll care for me for life. He finally passes his five-year test, but he sleeps with his lover before our wedding. He does it before my very eyes. He clamps a hand over her mouth and says, "Be quiet. Don't wake Layla up." His lover giggles and nibbles on his palm. "What's there to be afraid of? She's deaf; she can't hear us." James doesn't know that I've already regained my hearing. He and his lover are also unaware that their behavior is being livestreamed.

My boyfriend Julian is a chess grandmaster, a genius. At sixteen, he became the youngest grandmaster in North American history. I gave him ten years of my life, but a ring was never on the table. But when he reached the pinnacle of his career and won the Grand Slam, he still refused to break the pact he'd made with his family about his career. "According to my plan, I'm not considering marriage or any other form of long-term commitment until all my goals are achieved." I didn't argue with him. I quietly packed his luggage for the World Championship and wished him the best. He had no idea that at the very moment he was lifting the championship trophy with the world watching, I was dragging my failing body to sign my own name on a euthanasia consent form.

Eight years ago, my cousin Wendy Cooper was involved in a drunk driving hit-and-run. Yet, my parents made sure all the evidence pointed toward me. The victim's family waited outside my school every day with gasoline, threatening to die with me. Because of that, the school took away my guaranteed admission to university. That day, my parents and brother all tried to persuade me. "Wendy's terrified. Just give her your spot to make her feel better." I refused, fought back, and even tried to talk them out of it. But the next day, they handed me over to the police themselves. Lance Stewart, my fiance and a powerful business tycoon, had orchestrated it all. As he was afraid I'd run or cause trouble, he personally pinned several charges on me and sent me to an isolated island prison. He left me with no way out. When my sentence began, he made me a promise. "Esme, just endure it for a few years. I'll get you out once Wendy graduates, and then we'll get married."

Felix and I had been inseparable for ten years, and everyone thought we would end up married. When he got into fights at school, I took the blame and got expelled in his place. When he slept with countless women, I delivered birth control pills and breakup money in his place. I had always played the part of the shameless doormat, and everyone believed I loved him more than life itself. But the moment he took over as the heir to his family's fortune, he dumped me. He looked at me with scorn and disdain. "Kathy, maybe once upon a time we were in love, but it's been too long. You're dull, and you've drained away every ounce of my affection. I don't want to spend the rest of my life with you, so get out of my sight. I'm going to marry someone I truly love." Everyone was waiting to watch me fall apart. But when I saw the hospital's proof that my mother had been cured, and the extra hundred million dollars in my bank account, I genuinely smiled. "Fine. I'll leave," I said. The truth was, I had stayed with a player like him only because of a business deal. Now that I had the money, it was time for me to walk away.

It is 9:00 pm, and a soft glow still lights the master bedroom on the Lowe residence's second floor. "Helena, there's only a month left before the marriage agreement ends. Once it's up, I'll go ahead and arrange the fake death." Sitting at her vanity, Bianca Lane types the message and sends it to her mother-in-law, Helena Johnson. A reply comes back almost instantly. "Bianca, you've worked so hard these past ten years. You've taken such good care of Sebastian and even gave birth to a child for our family. "To me, you've always been my daughter-in-law. Why not just forget about the agreement?" Reading the message, Bianca unconsciously tightens her grip on her phone before quickly typing her response. "No, Helena. Let's just stick to the agreement."

I was sitting at the police station. My landlord scolded me harshly and pointed at my nose. Out of nowhere, my mother called and berated me mercilessly. “Chloe went to your place and disappeared! Did you lose her?!” “I know you’ve had grudges against me and your brother all these years, but how could you take it out on your niece?” In my previous cycle, when my mother told me Chloe was missing, I panicked and searched for her everywhere. Instead of helping, my mom and brother’s entire family dragged me to court without hesitation. I could not understand it. Chloe disappeared on her way to my place. How was that my fault? I begged the police to clear my name and review all the surveillance footage in the city. But the footage showed Chloe arriving at my door that day, and I opened the door for her. After that, she was gone, as if she had vanished into thin air. I stared blankly at the footage of her hopping cheerfully into my apartment. I had no way to explain myself. My sister-in-law lost it. She was convinced I had killed Chloe and threw boiling oil at my face in a fit of rage. I ended up in the hospital. I was disfigured and completely crushed, both physically and emotionally. No matter how hard I tried, I could not recall ever opening the door for Chloe. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day Chloe disappeared.