Twenty-sixth

(Bxb) Eric Valence thought finding a job as an editor for a well-known author named Draven H. Malcolm was the beginning of his writing career. He had no idea that it would also be the beginning of his love story. *** "You're so clueless, it bothers me." He frowned, "What does that mean-" "You never wondered why I gave you all the best things on my floor - the closest desk, drinks from my office, my newest project. I even went to your house and picked you up to make sure you weren't late." "My portfoli-" "There are twenty three others with the same experience as yours, that was an excuse," he admitted, peering into Eric's eyes and daring him to look away. Eric didn't. Draven sighed, "The reason I got mad that day..." he paused for a moment, hesitating again but deciding to let it all out, "the reason I got mad is because I heard you kissed Jason, which I wasn't too pleased about but then seeing you and Justin together..." He never finished his sentence, and Eric raised an eyebrow, "What about Justin and I?" "I feel like you're doing this on purpose," Draven chuckled, examining Eric's confused face. "I'm not sure what you're talking about-" "I like you," Draven said clearly with his entire diaphragm, expression it as loud as he could for Eric to understand. Eric felt his throat squeeze itself shut, no oxygen coming in or out. "I like you, a lot more than I thought, Eric," he breathed. Eric was unable to believe it, shook his head and looked away for moment, before meeting his gaze again. "Why me?" he asked quietly. Draven shrugged his shoulders, eyeing Eric with adoration and admiration, "I'm not sure either, but I want you to be mine."

Everyone had been poisoned. The toast for my party had just happened and now people were dropping like flies around me. And then I saw him. He entered the hall like an angel of death, his dark brown eyes two pools of malevolence that shone with sinister intent.Despite his twenty years of age, he definitely had more kills under his belt than years on his person. I was viciously yanked into the hard body of the man responsible for everything going on.One muscular arm went over my chest, pinning me to him. Fear lodged itself in my throat upon the sensation of cool dangerous metal at my temple. I bit back a whimper. He was going to kill me. “The name is Gabriel Rossi,” he murmured, his deep voice sending ripples of fear down my spine. “And your papa is going to watch me k*ll his precious princesa. He took my birthright from me. I’m gonna take something from him too.” I gathered my courage and with a surprising amount of strength fueled by the sheer terror pumping in my veins, I pulled myself out of Gabriel’s grasp. He tried to grab my arm, only for his hand to go over the protective bangle that suppressed my magic. I gave another fierce jerk of my body and the bangle broke away, left behind in his hand as I pulled free. I heard the cocking of his p*st0l. My eyes met the feral glowing yellow eyes of my killer, one hundred percent sure I was going to die. “Mate,” Gabriel Rossi said, staring straight at me. **** In a world where darkness and magic collide, Evelina finds herself entangled in a perilous dance with fate. You can run from Gabriel Rossi....but you can't hide. ***

After the college entrance exam, my parents left me at home and took their adopted daughter on a trip to the beach. A typhoon hit, and the three of them never came back. When the news reached me, I did not cry or throw a tantrum. I had their deaths registered right away and pulled out the life insurance I had bought in advance. I received one hundred million in compensation. My fiance scolded me for caring only about money. What he did not know was that I had been reborn. In my past life, after I learned about their deaths, the huge debts they had left behind fell on me. I gave up the chance to go to college and started working to pay everything back. I fought to protect our ancestral home from debt collectors. My fiance stayed with me and cheered me on when I came home late at night from delivery runs. But he never gave me a single cent to help. At thirty-five, I finally cleared every debt. On my birthday, I bought myself a ten-dollar cake to celebrate. Just as I was about to blow out the candle, the door opened. My parents and their adopted daughter, who should have died in the typhoon, walked in dressed in designer clothes. They smiled at me smugly. “Well done! We can finally believe that you aren’t greedy for money. You’ve passed the test. From today, you are qualified to be the daughter of the Jameson family.” “Jane, this brilliant idea was all thanks to you.” My adopted sister smiled. She leaned close and blew out my candle. The only light left in my twenty years of lifetime went out with it. My body gave in to exhaustion. My heart failed. I collapsed and died on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, they were about to head to the beach in the middle of the typhoon. I bought a massive accident insurance policy for them on the spot. This time, all I wanted was for them to disappear from this world forever.

"Kailangan ko ng anak, ibibigay mo sa akin iyun sa ayaw at gusto mo!" Elijah Villarama Valdez! Mula sa mayamang angkan ng mga Villarama Clan at walong taon nang hinahanap ang kanyang pag-ibig sa katauhan ni Ethel Angeles! Subalit nang matagpuan niya ito pagkatapos ng walong taon, napag-alaman niyang mayroon na itong ibang lalaking iniibig! Para makabawi sa lahat ng pagkakamali na kanyang nagawa dito, pinili niya na lang na magpaubaya pero sa isang kondisyon, kukunin niya ang kustudiya ng anak nilang si Ezekiel! Papayag lang si Ethel na ibigay ang kustudiya ng kanilang anak kung magbabayad siya ng dalampung milyon na kaagad namang sinang-ayunan ni Elijah! Para sa anakm na gusto niyang makapiling, gagawin niya ang lahat pero bago pa niya nakuha ang bata, isang trahedya ang hindi niya inaasahan na nangyari! Nalunod ang kanyang anak at ang itinuturo ni Ethel na may kasalanan ay ang maganda at sexy na life guard na si Jennifer Madlang-awa! "Hindi ako Yaya ng anak mo para twenty four seven ko siyang bantayan!" katagang lumabas sa bibig ng magandang si Jennifer habang kaharap ang umiiyak at galit na si Ethel! Paano matatangap ng isang bilyonaryo na si Elijah ang isang hindi inaasahang trahedya na siyang dahilan kung bakit biglang umusbong ang galit sa puso niya? Malalagpasan niya ba ang pighati na dulot ng matinding kabiguan lalo na kapag malaman niya na ang anak na inaasam niyang makasama ay tuluyan na siyang iniwan dahil sa kapabayaan ng mga taong nakapaligid dito or mananaig ang galit sa puso niya at pagbabayarin niya ang lahat ng naging sangkot kung bakit napahamak ang anak niya? Sabay-sabay nating tunghayan ang kahihinatnan ng buhay pag-ibig at kabiguan ng isang Elijah Villarama Valdez!

When my best friend and I realized we had been reborn and traveled back several decades, we locked eyes, collapsed into each other's arms, and sobbed, shouting that we wanted to break off our engagements. The entire neighborhood whispered that we had lost our minds. But only we knew the truth. In our past lives, this was the day everything was sealed: she married a battalion commander, Ned Stark, and I became the wife of a high school teacher, Robbie Stark. My husband betrayed me. For the sake of that pretentious whore, Scarlett Wheaton, he stole my university admission letter and let her take my place on campus. The world mocked me as a failure, and Robbie stood by in silence. After we married, every time he touched me, he would immediately write another love letter to Scarlett—atoning for his supposed guilt. "Scarlett, even if I can't be with you in this life, my soul will always belong to you alone." Even my own child despised me, calling me an ignorant village woman, urging me again and again to divorce so that his father could be with his "true love," Scarlett. And my best friend, Rachel Croft—born the daughter of a factory director—was tricked by her husband, Ned, under the pretense of buying a house. He drained her savings and her wages for twenty long years. It wasn't until she fell gravely ill and went to sell the house that she discovered the deed he had given her was a forgery. The real house—the one paid in full—was in Scarlett's name. One of Scarlett's dresses cost more than my friend's entire monthly salary. When Rachel begged to reclaim what rightfully belonged to her, she was met only with contempt from Ned and her child. "All you ever care about is money. You're nothing like Scarlett, who isn't materialistic at all. Your illness is retribution," Ned had said. "Exactly. Only someone as noble and kind as Scarlett deserves to be my mother!" her child had said. Rachel and I both spent our lives working ourselves to the bone, only to end with nothing—dying bitter and broken from the injustice. But this time, fate has given us another chance. I will go to university. Rachel will become a wealthy woman. This time, without us paving the way, those shameless men and that wretched woman think they can still live happily ever after? Dream on.

Kael Silvenia is more likely to be called an orphan. He lost his father at the age of 16 and it is not hidden from his knowledge that his mother had another man when his father was still alive. To make things even more complicated, it got worse when his father passed away. Her mother left him and eloped with another man when he turned eighteen. But even with that fact that her mother abandoned him, he couldn’t dare to loath her. So when the news came to him that his mother had been raped by the man she eloped with and was found thrown into the abyss, his world really collapsed. It's like life really played tough on his part when a fact emerged from her mother's autopsy result that apart from her male partner, there were nine other accomplices in the rape of his mother. Due to the trauma suffered from the findings, after a year of grieving, his mind made an action. It made a different persona. Timothy. His dark persona who is so much far from his weak personality. Timothy searched for the man who caused his mother's death but unfortunately the man is already dead. The only remains he got that has a big involvement on the man's life is a photo of his daughter when he went to the suspect's abandoned home. He found out that the assailant had been separated from his wife and daughter for a long time, so the only picture it has for its daughter was only twelve years old. That's when he decided that he would make sure the man would regret what he had done to his mother. He must have his revenge! Timothy looked for the girl on the picture and not long after, he found a match. Her name is Yngrid Angelique Villegas. As what the assailant did to his mother, Timothy raped Yngrid who was only twenty years old that time. The woman can't do anything but pity herself when he claimed her repeatedly. But despite Timothy's wickedness, Kael's personality prevailed when tears blurred the woman's eyes. He pulled himself together to stop Timothy. Conscience struck Kael's system. He started to investigate the girl's background. To his shock, his conscience swallowed him even more when he realized that Timothy had just mistaken the woman. She's not the daughter of his mother's rapist. He was even more conscientious when it became clear that even the business of Yngrid's parents was also sabotaged by Timothy. Due to lack of ways on how to approach Yngrid's family, he used the company's crisis as an opportunity to offer the Villegas a contract. All the terms that are stated in the contract are in favor of Yngrid's family. But there was only one thing he could not understand on himself. Why did he include in the contract that the woman must marry him?