The Little Engine That Couldn't

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King. He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed. Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head. Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too? "Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!" Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance. From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep… Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine. Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!" Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?" Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word. Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer. After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam. And now, there were only three days until my time was up.

Upon my returning from the special ops mission I took on three years ago, I open the door to see my fiancee, Erica Lewis, pregnant and holding a child. "This is your son," she declares as she passes the kid to me. I freeze in shock. My parents chuckle and explain, "You were gone for so long. Erica had to carry on the family name without you, so your older brother decided to help you with it. Isn't that great?" Just like that, I'm forced to be the officiant at the wedding ceremony I spent the last three years eagerly anticipating. I'm expected to stand beside Erica and my brother, Alex Sherman, to watch them exchange wedding rings and to see them kiss each other passionately. They have lied to all our friends and family, claiming that I couldn't have children. They humiliate me in public. They've also spent all of my savings and moved into the villa I bought using the monetary reward I got from the army after completing a deadly mission. Erica and Alex even lie on the bed I'd picked out myself and take intimate photos of themselves to send to me. "Don't be so sensitive. We're just helping you carry on the family name. Our kids are going to call you dad anyway." I give up. "Don't bother. It's over between us, Erica." After that, I call the army on the phone.

TRIGGER WARNING!!! YOUR MORALS WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS BOOK!!! This story contains themes of obsession, possessiveness, stalking, emotional manip-ulation, and psychological control. It is unapologetically intense and unsettling in all the right (and wrong) ways. Be guided. *** Eight years ago, Shannon watched her stepbrother get handcuffed and taken to jail for a crime she committed. He took the fall for it without hesitation. Not because he was noble. God, no. But because obsession looks a lot like love when you're seventeen and scared. After that night, she never went to visit him in prison, nor did she reply to any of his letters. She buried him with the past and went on to live a peaceful life without him. But the past never forgets. Eight years later, when she was living a simple, peaceful life, had a decent job and a husband who loved her deeply, Shannon's past came knocking at her door. Strange things start happening... Doors left open. Favorite things mysteriously re-placed. Eyes she can't see but feels always watching her. Everyone says she's paranoid. Everyone says He is still in jail. No one believes her when she says she had a STALKER. Her judgment is already upon her because, now, HE is out of prison. And the first place he goes is her doorstep, because he says she owes him her life. And he's come to collect what's his. How far can Shannon run from a man who never stopped loving her in the most ter-rifying way? A man who'd kill anyone, even her husband, just to make her his? HIS NAME IS KENAI... The Stalker You Never Want To Have. *** If you enjoy slow-burn stalker dynamics and morally gray characters, this one's for you.

”Loyalty and cheating. The two cannot be together.” “But is it still called cheating if she and him were not in a relationship?” Si Hexy Avory Ocampo ay tapat na nagmamahal sa kaibigang si Maverick Del Rosario mula pa noong high school sila hanggang sa naging magkatrabaho silang dalawa. Naninigarilyo man si Maverick at may pagkasuplado, hindi pa rin niya ito tinigilan, kahit na hindi ito nagpakita ng interes sa kaniya. Until one day, Hexy wakes up next to Brix Ivane Royale. Pareho silang walang maalala sa nangyari dahil sa kalasingan. Si Brix ay may mayamang pamilya at kilala siya sa kanilang lugar bilang businessman. Magkaiba ang ugali ng dalawang lalaki, ngunit pareho silang bahagi ng buhay ni Hexy. Because of what happened, Hexy’s loyalty to Maverick was tested due to the sudden appearance of Brix in her life. But one day, she found out what happened on a night she can't remember. Ang gabing bumago sa takbo ng kaniyang buhay. Ano kaya ang magiging epekto nito sa kanilang tatlo?

Napilitan magpakasal sina Anastasia Alarcon at Enzo Padilla dahil sa kagustuhan ng lola ng binata. Para kay Enzo, obligasyon lang iyon—pero para kay Anastasia, ito ang pagkakataon niyang makasama ang lalaking sampung taon niyang lihim na minahal. Akala ni Enzo, pera lamang ang habol ni Anastasia sa kaniya. Kaya sa loob ng isang taon nilang mag-asawa, malamig at maingat niyang itinago ang tunay niyang nararamdaman. Tiniis ni Anastasia ang bawat sandali, umaasang balang araw, mararamdaman din siya ng lalaking minahal niya ng buong puso. Hanggang sa namatay ang lola ni Enzo, at sa ika-pitong araw pagkatapos ng libing, sinabi nito na makikipaghiwalay na siya. She was nearly driven mad by Enzo’s demand for an annulment—at pagkatapos nito, umalis siya upang tuluyang kalimutan ang lalaking minahal niya ng buong puso. Ngunit hindi niya alam, iniwan ng kanilang huling gabing magkasama ang isang lihim: tatlong anak na hindi puwedeng malaman ni Enzo. Pagkalipas ng anim na taon, bumalik si Anastasia sa Pilipinas para hanapin ang anak na nawala noong sanggol pa lang. Ngunit sa halip na asahan, natuklasan niyang ang batang matagal niyang hinahanap ay nasa ilalim pala ng pangangalaga ng dati niyang asawa. Ang kanilang mga anak ang naging tulay upang muling magtagpo ang mga pusong sugatan. Hindi naglaon, lubos na pinagsisisihan ni Enzo ang lahat nang malaman niyang ang babaeng matagal niyang hinanap at pinangarap sa bawat gabing walang tulog ay si Anastasia pala. Determinado siyang ibalik at ipanalo muli ang puso ng kanyang dating asawa—ngunit sa harap ng lahat ng nakaraan, pagkukulang, at mga lihim… kaya nga ba muling magtiwala at magmahal si Anastasia kay Enzo?

"I loved that I fell for you but I hated that I was your second. That second which always comes after first!" Lilian Evans got married to Richard Tucker after his first wife died. She couldn't keep her heart in place despite his rude and ignorant behaviour. Things got a little overboard and now she was stuck at a point of no return. How would Lilian unfold her life in chaos with the responsibility of being a mother? "Touching others' belongings without consent! You know that is bad manner, right?" Lilian turned in the direction of the voice only to find her husband standing there in the ebony rich suit, his tie a little loose as he gazed right into her soul. "Oh... Yeah, sorry. I was just-" "Your room is at the end of this hallway, closer to Aid's," he said, taking off his coat and not minding to let his bride complete her sentence.

It was supposed to be fun. A night of drinking and fun. But Adrian hits a man on the road who ends up dying, Bianca wants to call for help but instead she is shot, which sent her tumbling down to the road below to her death, or so they think, now five friends have to keep what happened that night a secret. What they didn’t know was that Bianca survived, saved by the leader of the mafia, and she ends up getting married to his son. But soon her life in the mafia and her motivation for revenge ends up making her life harder as secrets are revealed, while more betrayal comes her way.

On my birthday, the dining table was loaded with all my favorites. My mom had been cooking and baking the entire afternoon, insisting everything be perfect for when Mike got home from work so we could celebrate together. But then, he called and said his first love had been drugged at a bar, and he had to go help her. I stopped him and begged him not to go. Mike snapped at me. "Jesus, Em, don’t pull this jealous wife crap. She’s alone, defenseless, and unconscious—I can't let some random dude take advantage of her!" My mother heard those words and was so enraged that she had a heart attack. She died on the spot. Just like that, my mom died on my birthday. I called Mike, asking him to attend my mom's funeral. But before he could reply, I saw Cathy Miller's latest Instagram post, captioned: [Mikey… after all these years, it was always you.] Mike had liked it. My thumb moved before my brain caught up, typing out the only words that mattered: [A homewrecker and a lying bastard. Hope you rot together.]

Sa labis na kagustuhan ni Gabrielle na mabawasan ang guilt sa pagkawala ng kanyang kapatid ay sinikap niyang gawin ang lahat para sa ikabubuti ng kanyang mga estudyante lalo na at buhay na ng mga ito ang nakataya. Para sa kanya, wala nang mas lulungkot pa sa naging buhay niya. Walang pamilya. Mag-isa. Miserable. Hanggang sa dumating sa buhay niya ang isang lalaki sa katauhan ni Zierelle Montefalcon. Hindi niya alam kung biyaya ba ang pagdating nito sa buhay niya o isang pagkakamali. Pagkakamali, kung hahayaan niya ang kanyang sariling tanggapin ito sa buhay niya at umasa siyang mayroon ulit siyang taong maaasahan sa tabi niya. Sa ilang taong namuhay siya nang mag-isa, natuto na siyang walang ibang inaasahan pa kundi ang sarili lamang niya. She became an independent woman as she wanted to be. But fate interfere. Some things won't go as planned. Namalayan na lamang niya ang kanyang sarili na unti-unti nang nanghihina ngunit sa isiping nasa tabi niya lang ang lalaki ay nanatili siyang malakas at natuto siyang magtiwala na tutulungan siya nitong hanapin ang kapatid niya. How about the boy with yellow umbrella? Patuloy niya itong inaalala dahil naroon ito sa tabi niya noong mga panahong nawala ang kapatid niya. Pagkakatiwalaan niya kaya ang isang aroganteng police officer para mahanap ang dalawang taong matagal na niyang hinahanap? How will she find them when her only clue is.... That summer...the rain pours.

After being reborn, the first thing I did was forge a medical report diagnosing chronic kidney disease. In my previous life, my nephew had been diagnosed with kidney failure, and he needed a transplant to survive. I rushed to get a matching test and donated one of my kidneys to him. But over time, my health deteriorated. At twenty, my body felt like it belonged to someone eighty. Even simple chores like sweeping the floor left me exhausted. I couldn't go out to work or earn a living, yet my brother and sister-in-law scolded me for "pretending to be sick." "It's just a kidney." my sister-in-law snapped. "Do you expect to leech off our family forever?" She even went so far as to buy a pair of fresh pig kidneys and smash them in my face. "Since we took one of yours, here's a new pair. Happy now?" Because I had lost a kidney, I died before the age of thirty, alone in a rented apartment. The next time I opened my eyes, I was back—before my nephew's diagnosis even came in.