The Mother I Could Have Been

Five years after losing everything—her love, her name, and her son—Helena Rodrigues rises from the ashes, determined to take revenge on those who destroyed her life. But fate is cruel: the boy she saves by chance is the son of Henrique Ballmer, the most powerful (and dangerous) man in São Paulo. Amid buried truths, forbidden passions, and bleeding secrets, Helena will discover that her greatest enemy... may be the man who makes her heart beat again. And that love—like revenge—can be deadly.

Veronica Langford never expected her summer before college to become this complicated. After years of living under her overprotective father's roof, she moves in with her mother to spend the summer with her before she leaves for college. Veronica starts anonymously sexting a stranger she meets online, allowing herself to explore forbidden desires—never expecting that the stranger would turn out to be Joshua Wolfe, her mother’s dangerously sexy, soon-to-be fiancé. Joshua Wolfe is an ex convict hired by Veronica’s uncle to ruin veronica’s mom. His job was simple: seduce Claudia(Veronica’s mom), bankrupt her, and leave her humiliated. Failure to do this meant going back to the hell he barely escaped, prison. Joshua thought it would be an easy job, but he wasn’t prepared for Veronica. He never believed in love but things take a turn when he finds out that the person he had been sexting was Veronica, the same person who he had a growing attraction for and could not stop thinking about Will Veronica ignore her guilt for being attracted to her mother’s fiancé and go after Joshua? Will Joshua give love a chance and risk going back to jail? What happens when Veronica learns of his plans with her mother?

During the eight years I spent by Alpha David’s side, I also raised the pup he had with my late sister. At his birthday banquet, I accidentally wore one of her old dresses. Eight-year-old Dorian grabbed a pot of freshly brewed coffee and poured it over me— right in front of the maids. The scalding liquid burned my skin, and when I looked up, I saw the same cold disgust in his eyes that I’d seen so many times in his father’s. “How dare you wear my mother’s dress?” he sneered. “You’ll never replace her. You killed her with that wicked heart of yours!” The coffee seared more than my flesh. It burned straight through my heart. I looked at the child I’d raised for eight long years. I didn’t feel angry. I didn’t even feel sad. Only a quiet kind of exhaustion. “Don’t worry,” I whispered. “I’ll leave tomorrow.”

Nakilala ni Grace si Wilfred sa isang club at pinaibig siya nito. Ang hindi alam ni Grace ay kasal na si Wilfred. Naging sila at di kalaunan ay nabuntis siya, pero noong sasabihin na niya iyon kay Wilfred ay doon niya nalaman na may asawa pala ito at hindi siya nito paninindigan. Paano na ang pangarap niya para magkaroon ng buong pamilya?

On the very first day Jason and I made our relationship official, he insisted on handing over his salary for me to manage. He said marriage was only a matter of time and that he trusted his future wife to keep the money safe. On the day of our engagement, Jason demanded that I hand over the $960,000 in salary I had “kept” for him over the past four years. “Each month, I gave you $20,000. In four years, that’s $960,000. After expenses, there should be at least $800,000 left, right? I can’t bear to make my parents empty their savings for my marriage. We will use my savings for the wedding, $600,000 as the down payment for the new apartment, and the remaining $200,000 will be my wedding gift to you.” I froze. “But there isn’t a single dollar left!” Jason exploded. “You wasteful woman! You spent all the money?!” His mother also erupted. “So much money, and you squandered it all! What shameful acts have you been up to?! This marriage is off!” Jason demanded to see the accounts. I immediately pulled out the records in front of everyone. Seeing this, Jason’s mother panicked.

My mother was the best portrait artist in the police station. She had a strong sense of justice and brooked no evil. However, all I got was a sharp retort when I called her to save me. "You know it's your sister's coming-of-age celebration today, and you're cursing her? Kidnapped, are you? Fine, the kidnappers can kill you for all I care." She assumed it was a prank call. So, she refused to go to the police station and do her job. I wasn't saved in time and was tortured to death. When the DNA report came out, she came to the scene all wobbly. She drew a portrait of me with my bones as reference, her hand trembling all the way. "Jessica? It can't be her. This is a mistake!" She tried again and again. Yet, it didn't matter how many times she redid it as the portrait showed my face. My mother, who had hated me my whole life, teared up.

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 ?

“What anniversary are you celebrating, huh? Five years of barrenness?” he queried, “It’s just another year to celebrate how unfortunate I am to be with you.” “We’ve come this far, love, I’m sure having a child won’t be a problem,” I manage to say with a smile. “Oh please, I don't fertilize barren land. There's no point wasting my seed on infertile soil.” *** Five years of marriage went down the drain in one day. Cara can overlook everything despite being betrayed by her husband and taken for a fool. What she can't endure is them being the reason she lost her baby and her womb. Cara divorced him and went back to reclaim her rightful place as the wealthiest billionaire heiress in the country. Now, she's sworn to make everyone who hurt her pay. Except for the fact that her ex-husband has realized what a terrible mistake he made and wants her back. Will Cara take him back or will she kick him to the curb along with the others who hurt her?

"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.

Her silky hair was a mess. Her makeup, ruined. Her dress wrinkled like she slept on it. She was there, but her mind, elsewhere. Her eyes went to me. Her lips curled into a lazy smile. In every step she gave, my heart sank thinking she would fall. “What happened to you? Are you okay?” I rushed towards her. Her face twisted with disgust. “Oh, perfect Bella. The golden girl. Always correct. Always the best.” “What…” “Perfect Bella. Has the best grades. She doesn't have to fight to get into college, colleges fight over her.” “Emma, you are drunk.” “Perfect Bella doesn't drink. She is as pure as water. Saint Bella.” Her eyes glinted. “Perfect Bella doesn't sleep with her best friend's husband.” My body froze as a wave of chill ran through my spine. “What… what are you talking about?” She leaned in, her breath thick with alcohol, “Where do you think Marcus is? Why do you think I can barely walk straight? Is it hard to believe he took me and not you to that bad that was supposed to be yours?” My heart clenched. Tears started forming in my eyes. It didn't take long till they gave up to gravity. He… he didn't. We'd promised this morning. He couldn't. “He wouldn't.” ***** It's been a year, but the scars are still there. My past echoing in my head reminding me of everything that happened since that day. Every time I open my eyes in the morning to see... nothing. “You only get hurt by the ones you love the most.” “You only get betrayed by the ones you trust the most.” What happens when these two misbeliefs collide? ***** I hope I wrote this book good enough to make you feel it. Obrigada.☺️