Too Busy

Brianna Lester, with her unusually platinum blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes, is impossible to miss wherever she goes. Her bubbly personality, hyperactivity, innate talent for tripping even while standing still, and her knack for always causing trouble ensure that she immediately catches the attention of the coolest tattoo artist around. Unfortunately, it's not her rather unique appearance that gets noticed, but her clumsiness. The moment she closes the door of the tattoo shop, one of the pictures hanging on the wall-the owner's favorite, and quite valuable-unexpectedly falls down. To make up for the damage, she ends up working at the shop until she can pay off the cost of the picture. It would all be pretty easy if a sexy tattoo artist didn't enjoy teasing her about her bad luck. By now, Brianna has resigned herself to the idea that her life is stuck in the "never a joy" zone, and her birthday is proof of that. Who can be considered lucky if they were born on a day that only comes once every four years? No one. Some people are kissed by fortune at birth, while others are kissed by bad luck. Brianna definitely falls into the latter category.

It was a national holiday and we decided to drive back to my husband's hometown to spend the holidays. One day before we left, my husband's childhood crush came crying to him that she had not managed to buy train tickets home. My husband immediately decided to let her have my seat in the car and insisted that I take the train instead. I looked at him in disbelief. There was shock in my eyes. Even my son insisted I take the train. "Mommy, Aunt Rosie is so pretty. How could you make her take the train?" I did not argue. I booked my train ticket right in front of them. However, it was to my own hometown. I no longer wanted a biased husband and a disloyal son.

It was the day of my return. The city was talking about the birthday party my husband was throwing for me. He was a lawyer. But the night before the big day, a message popped up on my husband's cell phone. 'It's been five years. I've been waiting for far too long.' My husband pushed me away, though his face was smeared with guilt. "I'm sorry, honey. The GM wants me on a last-minute work trip. I can't make it in time for your birthday." He left without even missing a beat. I opened up the GPS app and watched the red dot move away. That was him. I got an Uber and tailed him right away. His GM was me. I just got the job, and I approved his leave for my birthday. And then he told me, in my face, that I assigned him on a last-minute work trip when I did no such thing. It was midnight. And I was going to find out who this man was meeting at this witching hour.

เพราะว่ารัก.....ก็เลยยอมให้เขาทำร้าย ดันเห็นกงจักรกลายเป็นดอกไม้ ยิ่งห้ามยิ่งเตือนหัวใจตัวเองเท่าไหร่ก็ไม่ฟัง จะเป็นยังไง ถ้าวันหนึ่งเราได้รู้ว่าคนที่แอบชอบมาตั้งหลายปี เขาไม่ได้เป็นแบบที่เราคิด เขาไม่ได้ใสซื่อเหมือนที่แสดง เขามีอีกด้านที่เราไม่เคยรู้จักมาก่อน ทุกสิ่งที่เคยคิดว่าเขาเป็น และมันทำให้เราหลงใหลในตัวเขา มันไม่มีอะไรจริงเลยสักอย่าง เราจะทำอย่างไร จะเดินหน้าต่อไป หรือจะถอยหลังกลับ ความสัมพันธ์บางอย่างก็เหมือนกับการที่เราหยิบงูขึ้นมาอุ้มไว้ในอ้อมแขน ปล่อยให้มันรัด ให้มันพันรอบตัวโดยที่ไม่ทันสังเกต ไม่ได้เฉลียวใจ เพราะคิดว่ามันไม่มีพิษภัย แต่ลืมไปว่ามันก็สามารถกินเราได้เช่นกัน เช่นเดียวกับการที่เราเอาตัวเข้าไปในชีวิตของใครคนหนึ่ง ได้ทำความรู้จักแล้ว เอาตัวเข้าไปข้องเกี่ยวไปผูกพันแล้ว ก็ไม่อาจสลัดทิ้งได้โดยง่าย ถึงแม้เราจะพยายามที่จะทอดถอนตัวออกมาแค่ไหน ก็ไม่อาจหลีกหนีได้พ้น

My mate Theo's puppy love, Elena, and I both got pregnant at the same time. To protect Elena's reputation, he claimed her child as his and made my child, who was actually his, illegitimate. When I confronted him, he said, ‘Elena doesn’t have a mate yet. If the Wolf Council finds out she’s pregnant out of wedlock, she’ll be banished from the Black Rose Pack! I have to help her!’ Later, while Theo accompanied Elena overseas to give birth, his parents forced me to have an abortion. By the time he returned, I had disappeared.

Foolish innocence and wicked deceit took her from the man she loved. Orphaned at the tender age of eight years, Elizabeth is raised as a ward in the loveless home of her uncle. Stuck on the desire for freedom from oppression and unfamiliar with the concept of love, she flees from her husband of an arranged marriage with the assistance of an old family friend. Sadly this friend was no match for the perils that awaited in the new world. To add to her misery, she realizes that she loved the man she'd married and just didn't recognize that love.

Bata pa lamang si Elyana, pangarap na niya ang magkaroon ng isang malaking pamilya dahil alam niya ang pakiramdam ng walang kapatid. Kaya naman nang makasal siya kay Finn na isang bilyonaryong taga-England, sinubukan nila ang lahat ng paraan para matupad iyon kahit ilang beses na silang nabigo. Sa limang taon nilang pagsasama, unti-unting nagbago si Finn na kapansin-pansin sa mga mata ni Elyana. Hanggang isang araw pinasundan niya ito sa isang tao at napag-alam na may kalaguyo pala ito. Ang masama pa, nahuli niya siya na maykas*ping sa kama sa mismong rest house na regalo pa ni Finn noong wedding anniversary nila. Nang muli silang nagkaharap, naglakas-loob si Elyana na itanong kung ano ang dahilan, bakit siya nagtaksil at ang sagot ni Finn, iyon ay dahil hindi raw kaya ni Elyana na mabigyan siya ng anak. Napakasakit para sa kaniya na marinig ang mga iyon. Nag-file siya ng diborsyo at nang maaprubahan, nagpasyang umuwi ng Pilipinas upang kalimutan ang lahat. Sa tulong ng matalik na kaibigang si Felicity, unti-unti niyang tinanggap na hindi na kailanman matutupad ang panngarap na iyon, ngunit isang araw, babalik si Finn dala ang katotohanan at ayusin ang nasira nilang buhay. Nararapat ba para kay Finn ang kapatawarang kan'yang hangad? Mapapatawad pa kaya ni Elyana ito matapos nitong wasakin ang kan'yang puso, pagkatao na halos ikabaliw niya noon at ang tiwala na walang pagdadalawang-isip na inalay rito?

Evelyn Carter has always been the obedient daughter, sacrificing her dreams to keep her family afloat. But when her father strikes a desperate deal with the ruthless billionaire Adrian Blackwood, her life spirals out of her control. Trapped in an arranged marriage with a man as cold as the towering empire he rules, Evelyn must navigate a world of luxury, secrets, and hidden agendas. Adrian Blackwood has one goal: revenge. Marrying Evelyn is just a calculated move in his plan to destroy the man who ruined his family. Yet, Evelyn’s quiet strength and unyielding kindness begin to unravel the walls he’s spent years building. But Adrian isn’t the only one hiding secrets. As Evelyn digs into the past, she uncovers dangerous truths about her father, Adrian’s enemies, and a shadowy crime syndicate that threatens to destroy them both. Torn between duty and desire, betrayal and redemption, Evelyn and Adrian must decide if their fragile bond is worth risking everything—or if love is a luxury they can’t afford.

“Is this what you wanted?” He sneers, eyes cold and unforgiving. It was as if I was looking into the eyes of a stranger. He looks down on me due to his tall stature. “To be the ‘pathetic’ whiny burden you have always been?” I flinch at his words. No, this cannot be, this cannot be happening. This is not my Nate, my Nathaniel. I struggle to maintain my composure. My breath came in shallow, ragged gasps, each one a painful reminder of the betrayal that had brought me to this breaking point.  ********* At just five years old, she was abducted and replaced to protect her family’s reputation, as it would have been scandalous for her influential father to have a kidnapped child. Returning home, she felt like a stranger in a place where her parents had long forgotten their love for her. Nate her husband, was her knight in shining armor… or so she thought. Betrayed and left to die by the people she trusted. What happens when life gives her and her unborn child a second chance?

My husband Dante, Don of the Moretti family, was killed in a gang crossfire. I was devastated, because the same day, I’d also found out that my IVF injection had worked. I was pregnant. The Moretti didn’t want me to spiral. So they called in Dante’s twin brother, Ash Moretti, to help around. I felt both guilty and grateful until I overheard them talking in the study. “It was Ash who died. Why would you make us tell Harper it was you?” His father asked. Dante’s voice. “I only married her because you promised me the Don’s seat.” Then Gianna’s voice. “Dante had given her a child. That alone should’ve been enough.” So. It wasn’t my husband who died. It was his brother. And my husband and his sister in law thought this was his clean exit. As he wished, I gave it to him. When the doctor told me the fetus had less than a ten percent chance of survival, I agreed to terminate. And along with reclaiming everything else I had once given the Moretti, I walked away from his life—for good.