The Only Exception

After dating Scott Kenta for 10 years, I said to him, "Scott, I'm pregnant." The file in his hands slipped and hit the floor. He frowned, clearly irritated. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "This is a critical moment—my company's going public. I never planned on having a child." "It's fine. Your career matters more," I said, smiling gently. He didn't catch the meaning behind my words. I was pregnant, yes. But he wasn't the father.

"Master, do you miss this apprentice?" Lips painted in bright red ticked up in a sharp smile. Her eyes were a pool of dark red, like a swirl of the finest wine. One jaded hand in his throat, nails slightly digging in the skin there, the other was on his cheek carefully caressing. The clashing of both gestures were confusing, but Rion's mind only provided one instinctual response; to run away as far as possible. ----- Rion Ren, one of the strongest sword masters in the world, had to make a difficult decision to hand over his apprentice, Ruby, to the Demon Master when Ruby's real identity as a descendant of Demon Sovereign was revealed. Three years later, Ruby who had successfully taken the reign of the Demon Realm, came back to take revenge on her master that had betrayed and abandoned her in the hand of cruel demons. Rion swore on his life as a sword master, he only wanted to protect those who were precious to him, but how did it manage to turn the whole world into chaos? How would Rion face his own apprentice in a battle between life and death?!

Leon Ma, a freshly graduated doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, never expected his life to take such a dark turn. Drugged and sold to the Darkwood Continent — a land where sunlight never shines, demons rule, and humans are treated as little more than pawns. Confused and disoriented, Leon wakes to find himself forced into a marriage with the seemingly gentle yet scheming second prince of the demon realm. Just as he begins to accept his grim fate, the cold and fearsome first prince intervenes, shattering the engagement and abducting Leon for his own purposes. Trapped between the two princes—one calculating and manipulative, the other ruthless and enigmatic—Leon must navigate their dangerous power plays while struggling to survive as a powerless human in a world of darkness and demons. With no allies and only his skills in medicine and his supernatural sensitivity to rely on, Leon must find a way to escape the web of schemes that binds him before he becomes a casualty in the deadly rivalry between the two princes.

Adalah takdir seseorang untuk dilahirkan, dan juga takdirnya untuk menjemput kematian. Tapi bagaimana jika jiwa yang ada dalam raga yang telah mati itu masih ingin hidup? Ia masih ingin hidup dan memperbaiki segala kesalahan yang telah diperbuatnya. Dan bagaimana jika jiwa itu ingin memang hidup, karena ingin mencari jiwa lain yang menjadi tujuan dan misinya sedari awal? Seseorang memutuskan untuk mati dan dilahirkan kembali selama beberapa kali. Ia juga menyambut segala penderitaan dan kesedihan yang didapat dalam kehidupannya di dunia, karena ia memang ditakdirkan untuk menjalaninya. Tapi di sisi lain, jiwanya sebenarnya telah terluka dan luka itu hanya bisa sembuh bila ia telah mencapai kesempurnaan. Dan kesempurnaan itu hanya bisa didapatnya saat ia mencapai kebahagiaan, dan yang bisa memberikan kebahagiaan itu hanyalah satu orang. Satu orang istimewa yang memang sedari awal menjadi poros hidupnya, meski orang tersebut sama sekali tidak menyadarinya. Dan dalam takdirnya yang buruk itu, ternyata seseorang yang menjadi poros hidupnya pun memiliki tujuan yang sama dengan dirinya. Yaitu untuk mencapai kebahagiaan yang sempurna. Ini adalah cerita mengenai garis hidup seseorang dan bagaimana seseorang menjalani kehidupannya, dari sejak ia dilahirkan hingga kematian menjemputnya kelak. Bagaimana perjuangan seseorang untuk meraih kebahagiaan dan bagaimana pada akhirnya, seseorang dapat menjalani hidupnya tanpa penyesalan.

[ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀs - ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ ] Emily Willows longs for passion, but only with the man of her dreams: the brilliant, warm and dashing Edward Jones. If only her oblivious, dreaming neighbour can stop with all his gentlemanly-ness and just pin her into the nearest solid obstacle available. And then, perhaps encircle her whimpering body into the solid rippling confines of his warmth- But no, he would not. He could not. As they’ve been best friends for, well, ever. And that's why it becomes extremely challenging for her when he asks her the biggest favour he could ever ask. The one favour she was sure no friend would ever ask their own. The one she was sure to lose herself to. The one she knew she shouldn’t say yes to. But it would indeed be the one to make her crazy all the same. Oh, dammit, all to hell. ~ritikablush.Copyright StarryRitika 2020

"Fake dating a hot baseball player—what could go wrong? When aspiring actress Lucy Younger arrives on Hazel Island to film her first movie, she thinks she’s finally caught her big break. What could be better than spending her summer on a beautiful island while catching the attention of her mega-famous costar? Enter Carter Roberts: baseball player, playboy, and the most obnoxious, arrogant, and sexy man Lucy has ever had the misfortune to meet. Soon Carter offers her a role she can’t turn down: play his fake girlfriend and make her costar wild with jealousy. Never one to turn down a dare, Lucy agrees. But when she starts to fall for Carter, suddenly what was just a game becomes all too real. After a shoulder injury benches him for the season, star pitcher Carter Roberts is set adrift. When he travels to Hazel Island for work, he doesn’t expect to get anything out of it except an extended vacation. Until he meets a pretty little spitfire who sets his blood aflame with every barb she throws at him. Lucy thinks she’ll be able to resist him after she agrees to their bargain, but Carter knows that when he kisses her, she’ll forget all about her costar. Carter soon realizes he wants more than this made-up relationship. But unless he tears down the walls surrounding his heart, he’ll lose the only woman who’s ever mattered."

Power, secrets, and bloodshed, no one is safe in a world built on lies. Rico Blackwood was born into power, but behind the wealth and influence lies a family built on bloodshed and betrayal. When his sister’s murder exposes cracks in the Blackwood empire, Rico is forced to make a choice dig deeper or become the next casualty. Melissa Reynolds should be dead. The world thinks she is. But staying in the shadows is no longer an option. Someone knows she’s alive, and if she doesn’t find them first, her second chance at life will end in a body bag. Catherine Blackwood is the perfect wife, the perfect mother… and the perfect predator. When she learns of a woman from Rico’s past, a woman who should have stayed buried, Catherine is ready to do whatever it takes to protect her throne. And Evelyn Hawthorne? She’s not playing games. She’s waging war. In a city where alliances shift like shadows, secrets are unraveling and bodies are piling up and love is a weapon as deadly as a bullet, survival isn’t guaranteed. Some will rise. Some will fall. And Some will burn!

『WOは脳が求める本能の恋』 慶愛大学で講師を務める向井理玖はonlyであることを隠して仕事をしている。人付き合いは当たり障りなくと毎日を過ごす理玖だが、一つだけ楽しみにしていることがある。毎日午後二時、理玖の研究室に雑用のために来る事務員の空咲晴翔との何気ないやり取りは、理玖にとって心地が良い。 新年度が始まり晴翔との距離が縮まる中で、晴翔に抱き締められた理玖が大量のフェロモンを発してしまう事件が起きる。 本人たちも気が付かないうちに大きな問題に巻き込まれる理玖と晴翔。解決を追いかける先には、思いもよらない巨悪が待ち構えていた。 ※WOバースは作者の創作です。（オメガバースの派生です）

“I never loved you. You were never meant to be in my life—you just showed up, uninvited, and ruined everything like a curse I never asked for.” Iyon ang pinakamasakit na katagang narinig ni Zenie sa kanyang asawa na si Aice Bustillos, ang CEO ng Nexora, isang leading car company sa Pilipinas. Isang magandang buhay ang tanging hinangad ni Zenie, kaya’t labis ang kanyang tuwa nang makilala niya si Aice. Ngunit sa loob ng walong taong pagiging mag-asawa nila ay walang ibang hinangad si Zenie kung ‘di ang maging maganda ang kanilang pagsasama, ngunit kabaliktaran iyon sa kanyang inaasam. Simula na maging mag-asawa sila ni Aice ay hindi niya naramdaman ang pagmamahal nito ni kahit isang beses, kung ‘di puro panunumbat dahil sa pagsira sa buhay nito at sa buhay ni Naiana, ang childhood sweetheart ni Aice. Kahit anong gawin niya para tanggapin ng pamilya ni Aice ay hindi siya nito magawang tanggapin, dahil ang gusto rin ng mga ito ay si Naiana para sa kanilang anak. With all the pain Zenie had endured, where will it lead her? Will she rise and reclaim her worth—or will it destroy her? Or will it ignite a fire in her to make every person who mocked her regret ever crossing her?

My boyfriend is a forensic doctor. I've been abducted and tied to a bomb—there's only ten minutes to detonation. The abductors force me to call my boyfriend, but all I get is a scolding. "What the hell do you want, Michelle? What are you playing at, using your life as an excuse just because you're jealous? "Vi's cat has already been stuck in a tree for three days. She loves it like it's her life! If you delay me from saving it, you'll be a murderer!" I hear a coquettish voice ring out on the other end of the line. "Thank you for this, Kev. You're amazing!" I recognize that voice—it belongs to my boyfriend's childhood friend. I text my boyfriend when the bomb is about to explode. "Farewell forever. I pray we won't meet each other again in another life."