True Crime Long Reads

"Apakah aku tidak cantik dan menggemaskan? Mengapa orang-orang kaya itu enggan membawaku pergi dengan surat adopsi?" -Rheshylla Inka Dayana. Rheshylla lelah dengan takdir buruk yang menimpanya. Dia kabur dari panti asuhan saat berusia tujuh belas tahun dan mulai pengembaraannya. Dia memiliki Lalisa sebagai sahabat. Namun, dia terlalu serakah hingga mendambakan kasih sayang seorang pria. Saat dia sudah mendapat kebahagiaan semu itu, Rheshylla justru kehilangan semuanya. Kemudian satu per satu rahasia terbongkar dan semakin menjerat. Apakah rahasia itu dan bagaimana Rheshylla keluar dari jeratannya?

Despite my parents' objections, I stay by Julian Grant's side for ten years. He goes from having nothing to building his own empire. The moment it's time to fulfill our ten-year promise, I proudly tell my parents I'm going to marry him. But then, he gives the vice president position meant for me to another woman. I confront him only to overhear a woman's hesitant voice behind the door. "Mr. Grant... you gave me the VP role, but what about Ms. Jones? Aren't you two getting married?" Julian's tone is cold and sharp, though his face is calm and unaffected. "Noelle's been with me for ten years. Who else would even want her? Relax—she won't dare make a scene." The words hit me like a slap to the face. Without another word, I turn and make a call to my arranged marriage contact. "Are you free?" I ask. "Let's get married."

Alanna Jacinto has been Hades Florentine's secret lover for three years. Despite that, she hasn't won his heart or love. But when she's finally decided to give up, he comes chasing after her.Alanna says coldly, "Too little, too late, Mr. Florentine. Your love is cheaper than dirt."Hades holds her tightly. "Yes, my love is cheaper than dirt, and I am too. Don't go, Ally. I'm begging you."

The day Henry decided to marry my best friend, I turned into a joke in everyone’s eyes. He lifted my chin and stared into my eyes bewitchingly. “If you admit your fault, I can overlook your mistakes and start over again with you.” I obeyed and uttered the words, “I was wrong.” And yet, with mocking eyes, he sneered, “I can’t believe you’re this cheap, Julia.”

The day my husband left the country on a business trip with his assistant, I learned—by sheer accident—that his archenemy was plotting revenge overseas. Without a second thought, I raced to the airport and stopped him from boarding the plane. But his assistant went ahead, alone. And over there, she was killed brutally. Not a trace of her remains was ever found. When my husband received the news, he fell apart. Wracked with guilt, eaten alive by remorse, he spiraled into a relentless, violent mania. In the past three years, I'd been in and out of hospitals more times than I could count because of him. And this time, he pushed me so far—I lost our child. Then I overheard a conversation between him and his secretary. "Sir, Casey is still alive. Why keep pretending you're sick? Aren't you afraid your wife will find out and leave you?" "Leave me? What right does she have to be angry?" He laughed coldly. "If she hadn't stopped me from going abroad, Casey would've never been lured away by that bastard. Everything Linda's suffering now—she brought it on herself."

Five years ago, when my boyfriend's small company was on the brink of bankruptcy I stepped in to save him, quietly supporting him from the shadows. Without revealing my identity, I became the company’s largest shareholder. Five years later, the night before his company was set to go public, he held me in his arms and said, "Emma, after the company goes public tomorrow, don’t leave. I have a surprise for you." At that moment, I was swept away by the idea of his "surprise," my mind racing with the hopeful thought that he might propose. I didn’t notice the cold glint of malice lurking in his eyes. The next day, as his company went public, he slapped me across the face and sneered, "Do you even see what kind of person you are? Did you really think someone like you could marry me?" He grabbed me by the hair and dragged both me and my best friend in front of a crowd of thugs and beggars he’d gathered. “These worthless cast-offs aren’t good enough for me anymore. Consider them my gift to you. Do whatever you like with them!”

I ground my hips against him, seeking friction. He groaned into my mouth, one hand moving to my breast, squeezing it firmly. His thumb brushed over my nipple through my bra, making it harden instantly. I broke the kiss to gasp, but he pulled me back, his lips claiming mine again. We kissed like we couldn't get enough, tongues tangling, breaths mixing in short pants. Anthony's other hand slid down to my ass, pulling me tighter against him. I rocked my hips faster, feeling the outline of his cock rub against my pussy. My panties were soaked now, the fabric clinging to me. He broke the kiss this time, trailing his mouth down my neck, sucking on the skin there. I tilted my head back, letting him bite lightly, the sensation sending sparks through my body. 'Florence,' he whispered against my throat, his voice rough. 'I need to taste you.' ************** Five years ago, Florence Davidson lost everything. Her family, their fortune, and her brother was framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Now, she’s back with one goal, to destroy the man she blames for it all. But billionaire CEO Anthony St. Louis isn’t the villain she expected, just cold, brilliant, and far more complicated. When a twisted truth surfaces and sparks fly between them, Florence finds herself torn between revenge and a love she never planned for. As secrets unravel, a child appears, a hidden past resurfaces, and the real enemy steps out of the shadows. Love was never part of the plan... but it might be the only way out.

She found her true mate… but he belongs to another. Dana never expected to find her fated mate in the heart of the city — especially not in her cold, brilliant, and heartbreakingly human boss. Kos is a billionaire inventor, engaged to a woman the world sees as perfect. And worst of all… he doesn’t feel the bond. To reveal the truth would make her look desperate, maybe even insane. Who would believe that a shy assistant is his destined mate — and not just after his name or fortune? But the bond is real. The ache is real. And when fate forces them together, nothing will ever be the same. Can a heart blinded by reason learn to feel what only instincts can see? Or will Dana lose him — before he even realizes she was his all along?

Warning: contains mature content Elena has long harbored a secret crush on her enigmatic billionaire boss, Andrew Blake. One night in San Francisco turns a routine business trip into a forbidden, passionate affair.Back home, Andrew faces pressure from his family: if he doesn’t marry before his stepbrother Matthew, he could lose the company. Determined to secure his inheritance, he offers Elena a contract marriage and she accepts.But life gets complicated. Matthew is her ex, his fiancée is her best friend, and a betrayal orchestrated with a scandalous video shatters Elena’s world. Humiliated, she disappears, determined to build a new life away from Andrew and Matthew.Yet escaping a billionaire isn’t easy. Torn between revenge and forgiveness, past and future, Elena must decide: can her heart truly heal before it’s too late? especially when the truth about the betrayal surfaces?

It was a case of running from frypan into fire when Mokunfayo bolted out of her supposed engagement party into the clutches of the bad kind of policemen. And when Mike -a drop dead gorgeous, but dangerous leader of an underground Mafia- comes to her rescue in the nick of time, sparks begin to fly. The problem was; it was supposed to be a one time meet up, getting stuck together was not supposed to be included in the messy mix. But there they were; a hurt, bitter, cold, calm and collected lawyer cohabiting in the same space with a hot, panty-dropping, rash, hardened criminal. It is right to assume that more than sparks would fly. Opposites, they say, attract and Mokun and Mike's case wasn't different. But with dark pasts, family secrets, pain and all the bitterness involved, would their attraction survive enough to bloom into something more beautiful? Follow the losses, pains and gains of both parties and the people around them.