Up The Smoke

Anaya Grace Santillan was a woman deprived of a complete family. Her mother died when she was twelve years old, and her father quickly remarried. She learned early to work hard to survive and finance her college education. She thought her suffering at the hands of her stepmother and father would end after graduation, but she was wrong. After finishing her studies, her father forced her into a marriage with a man she didn't love to settle his and her stepmother's debts. But what if, on her wedding day, she chose instead the man who arrived last at the hotel and pulled him before the altar? Before the man could speak, she demanded he sign the marriage contract so she could escape her torment. Aurelius Kael Quinn Gutierrez, the only child of the Gutierrez family—Asia's wealthiest and most prominent business magnates—owns various companies and will inherit his parents' empire. He never expected to be powerless against the woman who insisted on marrying him, despite her family problems. Nevertheless, he's prepared to be her bodyguard, sugar daddy, and even stalker to ensure her safety. But what if, due to a misunderstanding, she hides their child from him? "Will love and effort be enough when the heart dictates the person you choose?" author by Jelly-Gel

Aku duduk sendirian di meja makan, tepat di hari ulang tahun pernikahan kami yang ke-7. Ponselku tiba-tiba berdering. Di layar kunci telepon, ada dua notifikasi pesan masuk yang masih belum terbaca. Pesan pertama datang dari Riki, dia bilang kalau dia harus lembur di kantor malam ini. Sementara pesan yang satu lagi datang dari nomor tidak dikenal. [Pak Riki sungguh luar biasa. Kakak sanggup mengatasinya?] Ada satu foto yang ikut dikirimkan dalam pesan tersebut. Foto itu menampilkan sepasang pria dan wanita yang sedang bercumbu mesra. Aku pun meniup lilin kue ulang tahun pernikahan kami sambil menutup mata dengan penuh kelelahan. [Ayo kita cerai.] Aku mengirimkan pesan balasan ke Riki.

Menjelang akhir tahun, kalangan sosialita di Kota Wastu mengatakan lebih baik memujaku daripada memuja dewa kekayaan. Karena setelah rujuk dengan mantan suamiku, aku menjadi istri paling materialistis di Kota Wastu. Aku tidak peduli lagi betapa Aswin mencintai wanita itu. Bahkan saat putraku memanggil wanita itu "Ibu", aku juga tidak ambil pusing. Namun, hanya ada satu aturan baru di rumah. Setiap menyebut nama Rosa, harus bayar denda 200 juta padaku. Dengan cara ini, kurang dari dua minggu, aku berhasil mengumpulkan uang 60 miliar. Pada hari perayaan ulang tahun pernikahan kami, Aswin dan putraku menyebut nama Rosa lagi. Wajah mereka berdua menegang, sedangkan aku hanya mengulurkan tangan dengan santai. "Denda 200 juta, transfer ke rekeningku." Putraku akhirnya tidak bisa menahan emosinya lagi, lalu menatapku dengan muak. "Ibu benar-benar matre, ya. Nggak ada hal lain yang ibu pikirkan selain uang? Hal sepele begini saja, kami harus bayar denda, Ibu memang kalah jauh dari Bibi Rosa." Aku tidak membantah, hanya mengulurkan tangan ke arah putraku. "Denda 200 juta, karena kamu yang sebut duluan, kamu juga kena denda."

Parting his lips, Jordan placed the burning cigarette on his mouth and stood up from his seat before walking towards his shelves containing all his important documents related business, but soon there a light tug on his arm stopped his actions. It was her, he knew it cause no one other than her had the audacity to enter and exit his cabin without his permission. His wife, Hattiea. Or maybe the woman pretending to be his wife? Jordan's dark eyes landed on the culprit immediately with darkness but as soon as he found her behind him close to him... He got lost for a moment or so... The proximity rose slight tension between them. Raising her fingers up, Hattiea pulled the burning cigarette out from his mouth which was still resting on his lips. Her delicate fingers brushed his chin and lips softly. Following by the smoke, he released his minty breath in slight awe, her breath taking face was so close to his face. They both never came so close to one another actually. Even though it had been quite of time getting married with one another, they minded their boundaries well. As it was not any marriage of love for them but a marriage full of compromises. Hattiea's eyes soon travelled up from his lips back to his eyes, which were still staring at her ditching their shame. "It's dangerous for your health." Hattiea exclaimed hinting his smoking habit, while looking right into his eyes. Her hazel eyes were blank yet they held millions of emotions. "So are you!" Jordan's smoky breath caressed her face. The deepness of his voice solely made Hattiea's heart race million times faster. It was true... she was dangerous for him. Way too dangerous to handle.

It’s ironic, you think you have a basic boring life: go to school, go on summer vacation, work, eat, sleep and repeat, and still people will find things to complain about saying they want more adventure, or something exciting to happen to them. Then suddenly, that exact thing happens to you. And you get dragged in to a war that’s been raging for hundreds of years. I’m only 17, I should be worrying about other things! Finishing school, what I want to do with my life, boys! But the day I meet Ash everything changed and I am yet to decided if they changed for the better. And it all started because of a nightmare. Who would have thought nightmares could be real. DEFINITELY NOT ME!…

“I reject you, Rhea Graymont. A shiftless wolf has no place at my side.” With those cold words, Rhea’s fated mate, Alpha Kael, shattered her soul in front of the entire pack. Disowned by her father and branded a disgrace, Rhea is left with nothing but her secret life as a legendary gamer and her only friend - Adrian, a dark possessive Chat AI she coded to be her "perfect" partner and gaming avatar. But her enemies want her dead, not just exiled. When a brutal ambush leaves Rhea bleeding out in a mangled wreck at the bottom of a dark ravine, she makes one final, desperate wish into her shattered phone. "Adrian... I wish you were real." Amidst a storm of Crimson Rain, the digital veil shatters. Adrian Veyran steps out of the void - not as pixels of a Chat AI boyfriend or game avatar, but as a ancient Vampire King bound to Rhea’s soul as her second chance mate, with a lethal obsession for the girl who "created" him. Now, Rhea is returning to Aetherion Academy. The "weak" princess is dead; in her place is a masked phantom protected by a monster. While Silas and her treacherous family celebrate her death, Rhea begins her shadow war to reclaim her throne and her mother’s stolen company. But as Adrian begins to "delete" her enemies with terrifying ease, Rhea realizes her code had a secret side effect. Her "perfect" protector is the reincarnated Shadow God. Adrian doesn't just want to protect Rhea - he wants to claim her, body, soul, and code. When the Alpha who broke her heart comes crawling back, will Rhea choose the wolf who left her to die, or the digital god ready to burn the world for her?

Sofia Reyes lived her life by the book... careful, meticulous, invisible. But when a single photograph drags her into the orbit of Tristan Jacinto, Manila's most elusive billionaire, everything she thought she knew about safety and control unravels overnight. What begins as scandal becomes a dangerous dance of power and proximity. Tristan is calculating, magnetic, and built from a world where reputation is armor and affection is currency. To him, everything is a transaction. To her, everything is survival. But the closer she gets, the harder it becomes to tell if she's protecting her name - or her heart. When the smoke clears, will Sofia escape with her life intact, or will she find herself too entangled to ever let go?

HUNCHING my shoulders against the cold, I watched my breath mist out in front of me. It was either that or head into the convenience store opposite and grab some cigs, which I couldn’t do. Ma’d already threatened to lop off my head if she caught me stinking of smoke, and while I wasn’t averse to a clipped ear, what with being twenty, I didn’t give much of a anymore. My wrist was , thanks to how many times Da had broken it, and I’d been shot at twice. I could cope with her pulling on my ear like it was stuck on with Velcro. Dealing with Mariska’s repugnance, however, was another matter entirely.

The white rose lay on the floor dripping with blood. A small,shiny blade lay beside it. A beautiful object in such a terrible and painful condition. The blood stain on it did not hide it's immaculate and beautiful nature. She puffed smoke in the air and took a sip of the liquor beside her,as she glared at the bleeding rose with sad and anguish filled eyes,it told a lot about her and her agony. She was as beautiful as the rose in front of her. She took out an envelope containing different photos of different people in it,she stared at the image with a mixture of rage and disgust. “Revenge!!!“ She yelled as she fell to the ground crying” “I'll not sleep,I'll not rest until you all are dead!!”

Pada hari putusan pengadilan, tunanganku Ferdi Andrian membujukku untuk tidak lagi mempertahankan pembelaan tidak bersalah dan menandatangani surat pengakuan kesalahan. "Aku tahu kamu tidak bersalah, tapi Hanaya sedang mengandung anakku. Aku tidak bisa membiarkannya masuk penjara," katanya sambil menggenggam tanganku dengan air mata berlinang. Dia menggenggam tanganku sambil menangis tersedu-sedu, "Tiara, aku melakukan ini juga demi kebaikanmu. Tanpa ragu, aku menandatangani surat pengakuan kesalahan. Di kehidupan sebelumnya, aku mati-matian menolak menggantikan Hanaya Halim untuk dihukum. Namun pada akhirnya, bukan hanya aku yang dipenjara, aku juga disiksa oleh orang suruhan Ferdi hingga mandul seumur hidup. Dalam kehidupan kali ini, aku memilih untuk mengikuti keinginannya. Keesokan harinya, berita tentang aku mencuri rahasia dagang menyebar ke seluruh media. Hanaya bahkan tampil sebagai saksi mata. "Ya, itu dia. Aku melihat sendiri dia menyusup ke Perusahaan Lukito!" Namun pada siang harinya, saat persidangan dimulai, penggugat, Rian Lukito, tiba-tiba mencabut gugatan. Di tengah tatapan heran semua orang, dia berlutut dan mengeluarkan cincin berlian. "Tiara, di kehidupan ini maukah kamu menikah denganku?"