The Silent Patient

After deciding to leave Azurea and follow Clara Miller to Northwood City, I was cast out by my parents. "That girl is an orphan–what can she possibly give you? If you choose a life of hardship now, you’ll spend the rest of your life suffering! Once you walk out that door, don’t bother coming back!" I left anyway. For five years, I watched Clara rise step by step, becoming one of Northwood City’s most respected psychologists. Just as she had promised, she gave me a home. As the New Year approached, I planned to take her back to Azurea to reconcile with my parents. However, just before boarding the plane, she abandoned me again–this time for a depressed patient threatening to take his own life. She let go of my hand, her eyes full of pain. "Julian Vance… he’s just like I used to be–alone, with no one to rely on. If I don’t go, he’ll jump. I’m sorry. Just this once. I’ll catch the next flight and meet you there." Then she turned and ran toward the exit without hesitation. I stood there, staring at the two plane tickets in my hand. She had saved everyone who needed redemption. Everyone… except me. Slowly, I tore up her ticket. Then I walked alone toward the security gate and turned off my phone. What Clara did not know was this: Some journeys home, once missed, are gone forever.

How can a love be so patient but suddenly lose its will when the right time finally comes? “G-gusto kita, Jeo!” “Higit pa nga yata don. H-hindi ba pwedeng kahit s-subukan mo? Kahit ngayon lang iparanas mo naman sakin na akin ka,” nagmamakaawa kong bulong. Walang kaalam alam ang lahat na kasal na ang poging CEO na si Jeo sa nag-iisang sekretarya nitong si Ysobelle. Isang taon— isang taon ang hinintay ni Ysobelle pero si Kaela pa rin ang minamahal nito. Dito na tuluyang napagod si Ysobelle, umalis siya ng walang paalam at ang tanging iniwan sa asawa ay kapirasong papel ng divorce paper na may pirm niya. Simula ng umalis sa poder ni Jeo ay sinimulan niya ang pagdiskubre sa magagandang tanawin sa Pilipinas. Ngunit napadpad siya sa Palawan, sa lugar na ito nagtagal si Ysobelle dahil sa ganda ng mga tanawin. Ngunit masyadong mapaglaro ang tadhana, ang pamilyang napamahal na sa kanya puso ay ang pamilya rin ng dati niyang asawa. Ito na ba marka ng tuluyan nilang paghihiwalay? O ito na ang magiging simula ng pag-usbong ng pagmamahalan nilang dalawa. Can love really bloom from a man’s broken heart and a woman’s pierced heart? Or will waves keep on pushing them apart?

BLURB: Reina Cole is an eighteen year old teenager and heiress of the Cole family. After her old life implodes due to an embezzlement scandal, she transfers to Gravemont Academy. An elite school where surnames is currency. Everyone here wears a mask, but none more dangerous than the boys who’ve trapped her between them. One of them being Adrian Vale. Heir to a tech empire, leader of the notorious House of M, and the kind of boy who can destroy a reputation with one sneeze. Adrian treats Gravemont like his chessboard. He should hate Reina, she defies him, resists him, ruins his control and yet he’s drawn to her like a dare he can’t stop taking. Julian Carter wants her too. Adrian’s charming, golden cousin. He’s everything Adrian isn’t. Patient, sardonic, protective. But Julian’s interest hides its own game, and his family ties are far darker than Reina knows. What happens when House of M, an elite powerful club run by Adrian; throws a challenge on both men? Whoever gets to have sex with Reina Moore first, owes the other five thousand dollars. Two princes. One fallen heiress. A maze of betrayals. Reina thought she’d come here to rebuild her life, keep her head down and graduate. Instead, she’s caught between two rival heirs. Hate me. Lust me. Love me. Welcome to Gravemont Academy

A single misstep, and the consequences were severe. I am Moxie Guerra, known to all who know me as a devil with the face of an angel. At the age of seventeen, I am a woman with high standards in every aspect of life. I insist on the best food, the most luxurious clothing, and when it comes to men, they must be extraordinarily wealthy, attractive, and well-known. Born to my father's mistress, who passed away after my birth, I am scorned by my father's second family. As the daughter of a mafia boss, I was brought up in a perilous environment. No one perceived me as patient or kind. Instead, I was feared, much like my father, which was my Achilles' heel. However, when I discovered that my father had arranged my marriage to the richest son in the country without my approval, my rebellious streak surfaced. I wasn't just the daughter of a mafia boss for appearances. I was as obstinate and egocentric as my father. I decided to flee to a place where my father would least expect me to be. I stopped at the nearest bar for some liquid courage before driving to my mother's hometown. It was a humble province, filled with trees and dirt roads, a stark contrast to my opulent lifestyle. But my survival was more crucial than my sophisticated tastes. However, my car broke down in the middle of a vast highway on the way there. Despite being inebriated, I managed to survive. A man in a black Hummer arrived and came to my aid. His smile was menacing and disconcerting.

During my night shift, I refused to help my adopted sister administer fluids to her patient. After the wrong drug is given, I watch a seven-year-old boy die after he suffers an allergic reaction right before my eyes. In my previous life, the boy's family stormed the nurses' station after I'd just finished administering his IV medication. The next thing I knew, I was violently beaten up. "You poisoned my grandchild by giving him the wrong medicine!" But the fluid I introduced into his bloodstream was a simple glucose solution. It couldn't have led to such a disastrous outcome. When I was on the brink of passing out, someone called the police. I thought help had finally arrived, but I was sorely mistaken. The police officer—my brother—pinned me to the ground. "We found your prints on the drug vial. You're a murderer." Then, my childhood friend, a forensic pathologist, held up an autopsy report and accused me of the same crime. "The patient's time of death is around 5:00 am. That's the same time you administered drugs into his system." Unable to prove my innocence, I was ultimately beaten to death by the boy's enraged family members. My brother and my childhood friend had always loved me. Even on the brink of death, I couldn't understand why they would do this to me. Now, I open my eyes and find myself back on the night it all began.

For five years, Silver Winters endured everything. The mistresses. The humiliation. The cold indifference of a husband who saw her as nothing more than a convenient trophy. All because she had saved his life and hence requested for a marriage as payment and due to his parents being traditionalists, they accepted the deal. Then came the night of the accident—the night Seris chose to save his best friend, a petite sick patient instead of his wife. Silver died in that icy river. *But she woke up five years earlier, on the morning of her wedding day.* *This time, she's not walking down the aisle.* This time, she's rewriting every rule.She is no longer the dumb princess who thought true love was everything and she was going to live happily ever after with her prince charming. She wasn't going to cling onto someone who never wanted her in the first place. *With the knowledge of five years of betrayal burned into her memory, Silver sets out to reclaim everything she lost: her career, her confidence, and her chance at real love.* *But her cold CEO husband seems... different this time.* *"Why didn't you marry me? This has been your childhood dream" Seris demands, cornering her at a business gala.* Silver smiles, unbothered. "I decided I'm worth more than being someone's doormat." As she builds her empire and attracts the attention of powerful new allies, Seris realizes what he lost. But Silver is already three steps ahead. And this time, she's the one holding all the cards.

On my way home from the night shift, a patient who held a grudge against my husband, the hospital director, forced half a bottle of pesticide down my throat. Terrified, I called my husband, Jasper Flint, for help. He rushed over and saved me. I survived by sheer luck. But tragically, his first love, Ruby Gray, died in a car accident on her way home that same night. After Ruby's funeral, Jasper carried on as if nothing had happened. I thought he had finally let her go. But on New Year's Eve, he poisoned our food, tied up my parents and me, and took us hostage. Through tears, I begged him to spare my parents. He killed them right in front of me. Their blood splashed across my face. "If you hadn't been so jealous of Ruby, if you hadn't pretended to drink pesticide just to lure me away, she never would've driven off like that. She'd still be alive!" he snarled. "How does it feel to watch your parents die? When Ruby died, what I felt was a thousand times worse than this! Since you like drinking pesticides so much, go ahead. Drink up!" Jasper forced my mouth open and poured the poison down my throat. I died in agony beside my parents' bodies. And then I opened my eyes—only to find myself reborn alongside Jasper. This time, Jasper chose to save his first love.

Winter, 2025. Seattle is shrouded in the cold mist of its endless rainy season. For the sake of a single recommendation letter to Stanford, Catherine Hale—a destitute but proud art student—knocks on the doors of the Highlands Manor to return a restored Song Dynasty porcelain. She intends to leave as quickly as she came, but instead stumbles into the world of William Sterling, the young, enigmatic patriarch of an old and powerful family. Cold, noble, and unfathomable, William draws her into a game of testing and maneuvering that plays out in the cracks between social class and self-esteem. From their first meeting on a rainy night to a silent rescue amidst the vanity fair of high society, Catherine fights to escape a glittering vortex she doesn't belong to, only to find herself falling step by step into William's gentle trap, lingering with the scent of cold cedar. In this rain-soaked city, a forbidden attraction blooms across the divide, unaware that fate has already secretly marked the price of its gifts.

Calista Arden has tried to seduce her husband, Theodore Montclair, for the 999th time, only to fail in consummating her marriage with him as always. Afterward, she calls her older brother, Elijah Arden. "I'm planning on getting a divorce, Elijah." Elijah remains silent for three whole seconds over the line. Finally, he speaks up in a deep, gravelly tone, "I already told you before that it's impossible for you to drill through Theodore's stone-cold heart no matter how hard you try." With reddened eyes, Calista can only chuckle quietly. "Yeah. I'm the overconfident fool here." "Come to Nordland," Elijah says lightly. "There are plenty of hunks here who are as good-looking as Theodore. Since that idiot doesn't know how to cherish my amazing and adorable sister, he can just spend the rest of his life as a devoted man of religion who has no family of his own."

Clayton Amos finally agrees to marry me during my fifth year as the antagonist of a novel. On the day of my wedding, the chandelier in the middle of the hall suddenly snaps and falls. At the most critical moment, he shoves me aside and runs over to protect Gladys Dawson, the protagonist of the novel, and his first love. Clayton's arm is slashed as a result, and blood pours out of the wound, dyeing his pristine white suit red. Meanwhile, Gladys remains unharmed in his arms. I hold a hand against the bleeding wound on my neck and finally accept the fact that Clayton never loved me. This is when the system appears and asks me, "Hailey Paltrow, would you like to abort your mission now?" I nod in silent response. "Since he's going to end up losing all four of his limbs and ultimately wish for death, I'll let him have it."