The Spook Who Sat By The Door Book

ในวันครบรอบงานวิวาห์ปีที่เจ็ดของเรา ฉันกำลังนั่งตักลูเซียนสามีมาเฟียของฉัน และจูบเขาอย่างดูดดื่ม นิ้วมือควานหาผลตรวจการตั้งครรภ์ที่ซ่อนอยู่ในกระเป๋าชุดราตรีผ้าไหมแสนแพง ฉันอยากจะเก็บข่าวเรื่องการตั้งครรภ์ที่มาอย่างไม่คาดฝันนี้ไว้จนกว่าจะถึงช่วงท้ายของค่ำคืนนี้ มาร์โกลูกน้องมือขวาของลูเซียนเอ่ยถามเป็นภาษาอิตาลีพร้อมรอยยิ้มแฝงเลศนัย “นายท่าน โซเฟีย นกน้อยตัวใหม่ของท่าน เด็ดไหมครับ?” เสียงหัวเราะแกมเย้ยหยันของลูเซียนแล่นผ่านทรวงอก ทำให้ฉันรู้สึกเย็นยะเยือกถึงกระดูกดำ เขาตอบกลับเป็นภาษาอิตาลี “เหมือนลูกพีชดิบที่เพิ่งเด็ดจากต้น ทั้งสดทั้งนุ่มนวลดีนะ” มือคู่นั้นลูบไล้ไปตามเอวของฉัน แต่สายตาของลูเซียนกลับไร้ซึ่งอารมณ์ “ปิดปากเอาไว้ให้สนิท ถ้านายหญิงของฉันรู้เข้า ฉันตายแน่” บรรดาลูกน้องหัวเราะคิกคักอย่างรู้ทัน พร้อมยกแก้วขึ้นสาบานว่าจะเงียบปากเอาไว้ เลือดอุ่นในกายของฉันค่อย ๆ กลายเป็นน้ำแข็งทีละนิด สิ่งหนึ่งที่คนเหล่านี้ไม่รู้เลยคือ คุณย่าของฉันมาจากเกาะซิซิลี ดังนั้นฉันจึงเข้าใจทุกคำที่พวกเขาพูดกัน ฉันพยายามคุมสติตนเองให้สงบ พร้อมกับปั้นรอยยิ้มไร้ที่ติในฐานะนายหญิงไม่ให้คลาย แต่มือข้างที่ถือแก้วแชมเปญกลับสั่นเทาไม่หยุด แทนที่จะสร้างเรื่องราวอะไร แต่ฉันกลับกดเปิดโทรศัพท์มือถือและเลื่อนหาจดหมายเชิญเรื่องโครงการวิจัยทางการแพทย์ระหว่างประเทศแบบรายบุคคลที่ได้รับมาเมื่อสองสามวันก่อน และกด “ยอมรับ” ภายในสามวัน ฉันจะหายไปจากโลกของลูเซียนแบบไม่ให้เขาตามหาได้อีก

Janda, tidak ada orang yang mau jadi janda. Setiap orang ingin pernikahannya berhasil, tapi keinginan tidak berjalan sebagaimana mestinya. Dona mengalami itu semua, menikah dengan pria yang suka melakukan kekerasan bahkan pada saat berhubungan intim. Fandi, pria yang sudah seharusnya menikah tapi kenyataan tidak semudah itu. Kepercayaan dengan wanita berkurang setelah wanita yang dicintainya lebih memilih menikahi kakaknya karena hamil. Fandi dan Dona yang mengalami masa lalu sulit bertemu secara tidak sengaja, kejadian demi kejadian membuat mereka dekat. Akankah mereka saling membuka hati satu sama lain?

What makes a hero? They say a hero is someone that has given his life to something bigger than himself. I say a hero is no braver than an ordinary man, he is just braver for five minutes longer. All soldiers are brave, it's what they do with their bravery that makes them heroes. Am I a hero? Clayton Jackson dedicated his life to serving his country. Enlisting in the Marine Corps at the young age of eighteen, he never imagined following any other path. However, fate had other plans for him as a life-altering accident during his last deployment left him disabled and forces him to return home. Hiding in the small town he grew up in, Clayton tries to keep his secret from his loved ones at all costs. One day while seeking refuge from his troubled mind, his path crosses with Isabella Jones. Their connection is instantaneous as if the universe conspired to bring them together. Isabella, a mysterious and enigmatic woman, is haunted by the demons from her own past. As their relationship quickly blossoms, the unspoken truths between them threaten to tear them apart. When Clayton is presented with the opportunity to rejoin the Marine Corps, Isabella is faced with a decision: whether to accompany him or remain behind. Caught in this web of secrets and lies, they try to navigate their love through the murky waters, desperately hoping to find solace in each other's arms. But will love be enough to conquer the shadows that lingered in their hearts? Or would the truth ultimately be their undoing?

Tahimik ang buhay ni Kit hanggang sa lumipat ang nakakainis na lalaki sa tabi ng unit niya. Gabi-gabing may maingay na kalabog at mga halinghing ang umistorbo sa tulog niya. Nang di na makatiis, sinugod niya ito at sinita. Ang mas nakakainis, pati siya ay nilalandi nito. Sa malas, akalain ba niyang ito rin pala ang naging modelo para sa raket na tinanggap niya. Right at that moment, alam na ni Kit na magiging impiyerno ang mga linggong magkakatrabaho sila ni Aiden. She was not prepared for it. Definitely not. Pero hindi pala doon matatapos ang kanyang problema. Kinaumagahan matapos siyang maglasing isang gabi, nagising siya sa kama ng lalaking kinaiinisan.

When introverted college student, Gabriella Brooks, escapes her overbearing parents grasp. She finds solace in a quaint LA apartment. But her newfound peace was short lived as her next door neighbor Kai Alexander Flynn, a tattooed enigma with piercing eyes and a sharp tongue stirred up trouble. He was everything she'd been sheltered from, he was her antithesis: darkness to her light, chaos to her calm. Yet, in the storm of his presence, she found an unexpected freedom. She began to realize that his kind of chaos might be exactly what she needed to break free. As their animosity ignited into something fierce, she'd have to decide: Was he her ruin or her salvation? Was he her reckoning or her rebirth?

Being neighbour with a cocky, obnoxious man isn't part of the plan. This is what Sophie Adams thinks of Tyler Duckstein. Tyler is a billionaire hiding out in his rental apartment where Sophie is his next door neighbour. When they meet on a blind date, Sophie begins to think of him differently. She needs a man to pretend to be her fiance just to escape her father's constantly organized blind dates and Tyler seems to be the best option. Without knowing about the fact that he is the real owner of her apartment and also a billionaire, she offers him something she considers mouth watering. Will Tyler accept such an offer from a proud, rude and sassy neighbor? What will happen when Sophie finds out that Tyler is not just the owner of the apartment where she lives in but also the CEO of a Multimillionaire textile company?

For three years, I was the only one allowed inside my husband, Matthew Carter's, secret room on the top floor. Until that day—when I walked in and found his young assistant there. "Matthew asked me to get things ready for his dinner party," she said, all confidence and no shame. I smiled. It turned out this was what it felt like to have my privileges as his wife trampled on. Fine. If the rules of the game had changed, then I would show everyone who the real player was. One by one, I dismantled the Carter family's most prized projects. That was when Matthew finally panicked. He demanded, "Why? We're husband and wife!" "Exactly," I said, tossing the divorce papers onto his desk. "And that's why betrayal comes with a steeper price, doesn't it?"

Boss mong akala mo ay galit sa'yo, bigla na lamang magtapat na gusto ka. Maniniwala ka ba? Si Arrianne, isang probinsyanang lumuwas ng Maynila sa kagustuhang mabigyan ng maayos na pamumuhay ang ina. Nagtiwala at umibig sa kababata na akala niya ay tunay siyang mahal, ngunit hindi pala. Paano kung may muling kumatok sa kaniyang puso, na hindi pa tuluyang maghilom. Papapasukin kaya niya?

After three years of marriage, William Harris’s first love, the woman he broke up with six years ago, returned from abroad. And she brought back a five-year-old son with her. Charlotte handed him the divorce papers with both hands. “Let’s end this. It’s better for you, for me, and for her.” William glanced at her and said dismissively, “Divorce? Can you afford to leave me?” Charlotte threw down the divorce papers and cut him out of her life for good. She severed every tie to the past and poured all her energy into her career, quickly rising to become an internationally renowned sleep disorder specialist. Powerful figures across the globe owed her favors and respected her work. The youngest heir of a foreign financial empire said, “Charlotte, just divorce him already. I can’t wait any longer.” The CEO of a multinational corporation said, “Charlotte, I’ll go with you when you file for divorce.” A world-famous attorney told her, “Charlotte, I’ll handle your divorce case myself.” Charlotte rubbed her temples. It wasn’t that she didn’t want the divorce. He was the one who refused to divorce her no matter what. Left with no other option, she made a public announcement. “Whoever can actually get this divorce finalized gets VIP seating at my divorce party.” Not long after, William received a divorce notice from her lawyer right in the middle of a shareholders meeting. Soon after that, a multi-billion-dollar project of his fell through. That same afternoon, he was nearly hit by a car right outside his own company. Later, Charlotte arrived at the hospital carrying a bouquet of flowers. “Let’s end this,” she said softly. “It’s better for everyone.” The cold and dignified William pulled her tightly into his arms, his eyes reddening. “You want a divorce? That’ll happen over my dead body.”