When I Stepped Out Into The Bright Sunlight

Finley James never asked for the spotlight—she just kept ending up in it. All she ever wanted was basketball. Nothing else mattered. She grew up with the best coaches she could’ve imagined: her brother and his best friend. They were her whole world, the ones who taught her everything she knew. But after she turned eighteen, one night of giving in to her feelings changed everything. And she paid the price. Colton Reed was already a rising star by his freshman year, but the attention never interested him. His heart belonged to the game—and to his best friend’s sister. He knew that was a line he couldn’t cross. He wouldn’t risk the friendships that meant everything to him. Until one night, he did. With the biggest regret of his life and the happiest day of his life all at the same time, he left. He didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t look his best friend in the eyes anymore. Years later they find themselves playing for the same league in the same city.

Restaurateur and self-exiled heir Lucien Lenault's first look at the breathtaking young chef trainee for his trendy Chicago restaurant is a shock. She’s Elise Martin, daughter of a wealthy French fashion designer. She’s also the holder of a secret that could explode his carefully laid plans. Notorious for her flagrant exhibitionism, and for flouting the respectable façade of her aristocratic background, the coquine’s wild streak shocked most people. Not Lucien. He was tempted by it. It was a deliriously punishable offense as far as Lucien was concerned. But taking on Elise is more than a game. She’s a catastrophe waiting to happen, an inferno that’s burned many a lover. Lucien isn’t most men, however, and he won’t allow her to manipulate him. In order to control the defiant beauty—in order to see her submit—he’s going to have to willingly walk in the flames…

I had been married to Derek for six years, and we had a three-year-old son. He was poor, earning only $2,000 a month, but I had no complaints; I took care of everything at home for him. After getting dinner on the table for the whole family, I finally had a minute to check my phone. A video popped up on my feed: a twenty-two-year-old girl from a rural area whose hands, roughened by years of hard labor, looked like they belonged to a sixty-two-year-old woman. I looked down at my own hands, just as worn and scarred, and stared at them blankly before tapping into the comments. I expected people to feel bad for her. However, to my surprise, the comments section was flooded with a single sentiment: "Why would anyone marry a penniless loser?" One of the top-liked comments came from a couple; in their photo, they were pictured holding hands—fingers tightly intertwined—with the girl sporting a massive diamond ring. The accompanying caption read: "A man who truly loves you would never bear to let you suffer." I felt a pang of envy. Given the choice, who wouldn't want a glamorous life? As I was about to close the app, I accidentally tapped on the couple's photo, enlarging it. In the background, previously too blurry to make out, was a face I recognized. It looked exactly like my husband, Derek Sterling. I froze, and almost against my will, I tapped into the account's profile. Post after post of lavish photos of them together flooded my screen. And then I saw him clearly. The scar above his brow, the one he got when a shelf fell on him while protecting me, was still plainly visible. It was my husband. It was Derek.

Chram Ashy Monteflabio and Cyruz Keith Villarosi grew up together in a well knowned and wealthy family. Monteflabios and Villorosis are having probably the best bond of being bestfriends ever since their company started in the middle 20th century. Mula pa sa mga pasimula ay sanggang- dikit nang naturingan ang dalawang pamilya. Not until… Chram Ashy Monteflabio and Cyruz Keith Villarosi were born. Parehong nag- iisang anak ng bawat pamilya ang dalawa--- making them the sole heir and heiress. Pero bata pa lang sila ay laman na sila ng guidance at sakit sa ulo ng mga magulang nila dahil wala na silang ginawa kundi ang magbangayan at mag- away. Until a tragedy came to Ashy and that made her family decide that she must go outside the country. But what will happen if Ashy will come back to the Philippines after five years? After knowing that there’s this mafia organization--- the brute Del Fuegos, ruining their steadfast company? Uunahin niya ba na ituloy ang naudlot nilang away ng kababata niyang si Cyruz Keith? Or they would rather help each other to defeat the Del Fuegos? May mabubuo nga bang pag- ibig sa pagitan ng dalawa? O mananatili silang magkaaway oras na maging ayos na ulit ang lahat?

The day Stella Jameson was released early from prison for good behavior, my husband Samuel Xenos, who was always so calm and collected, lost control. He did everything he could to please Stella in her bed. He said that our marriage was nothing but fake. He never had any real feelings for me. And that lawsuit, for which he risked his life to win for me three years ago, was nothing but a complete setup. [Zara, the man you love most is just my dog. He comes whenever I call. He has always been like this. He’s no different from Victor back then.] That was the message Stella sent me to taunt me. I wiped my tears and prepared a big surprise for them.

Millie Jordan ends up in the hands of abductors and firmly believes Stefan Leach will be there to save her. Yet he doesn't show up, and she is sullied. After she's rescued, she drags her worn body to seek him out. There, she finds him celebrating his true love's birthday. Millie wakes up from her dream and turns to Stefan's good friend. "I heard you're short of a wife. Do you think I'm the right person for the job?" She and Pierce Atkinson get into a flash marriage. He wants someone to help him fend off his family's urging for him to marry, and she wants to get revenge on Stefan. The two clicked. During a banquet, Millie loses a game of truth and dare and chooses a dare—she needs to kiss any man who's present. She doesn't even spare Stefan a glance as she sits on Pierce's lap and kisses him deeply. She's gotten into a flash marriage, and Stefan, the scumbag, loses his mind at this.

Raya is an orphaned young lady who is struggling to make ends meet. Kaan is an introvert and a workaholic but quite a successful businessman, pressured by his family to produce an heir as he is the last in line of old lycan kings still thriving in the modern world. As Kaan's family sets him up with blind dates and not-so-blind ones, which makes him suffer internally, he is finally at his wit's end. By a stroke of luck, he meets Raya again...the girl who, incidentally, he doesn't mind having around because he knows they have something in common. She wishes upon stars, just like he does. Both desperate and in need of help, they agree to benefit from their friendship by being pretend 'mates'. Only, it is very hard to remain friends...when they seem so perfect for each other.

In her past life, Dylan Xander was forced to marry Zoe Stone. On their wedding day, his first love died in a plane crash. After the wedding, Dylan fell into a deep depression and grew to despise Zoe. For seven long years, she humbled herself just to win a sliver of his affection. But all she ever got in return was the same cruel question, over and over again: “Why wasn’t it you who died instead?” And yet, when the tsunami struck, Dylan gave up his only chance of survival to save her. On the lifeboat, she desperately reached out to grab his hand but he pulled away with all his strength. As he sank into the dark depths of the sea, he smiled in relief. “I’m finally free. I can be with her now.” After his death, the entire Xander family turned their hatred toward Zoe. Consumed by grief and guilt, she took her own life by jumping into the ocean. But when she opened her eyes again, she had returned to seven years ago. This time, she would cut the toxic bond between them and let him be with his true love.

I don't inform Hunter Nabb when I'm bitten by a rabid dog in the late stages of my pregnancy. Instead, I call the police. Why? Because he got into an accident when he hurried to me in my past life. It killed his junior. He was depressed for a day but quickly bounced back. He cared for me until I recovered. I thought the rumors of amorosity between him and his junior was just a figment of my imagination. However, the day I gave birth, he locked me in a cage, allowing a rabid dog to attack me and the baby. He looked down at me imperiously, his tone cold and ruthless. "You can trick everyone, but not me. Would a dog have bitten you if you hadn't provoked it? Do you know you killed Willow with your dirty tricks? She was pregnant with my child when she died!" When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to when the rabid dog bites me.

Since their childhood James Sullivan enjoyed making Kara intimidated. He relished her fear every time she saw him coming. Every time she stepped inside his house to play with his younger brother, he was there to hide her inside his room until he is the only one left on her mind when she finally leaves. But when James has a choice to make between Kara and his ego- he makes the wrong one, and with that Kara is left with a completely broken heart. So she leaves- never to return to him ever again. James had thought that after a small tantrum, she will return on her own to him, just like she always did. He had never even imagined of losing her in his whole life. The wait for day turned to three years and now when Kara is back, James, her 'former' love, has now become the CEO of two major holdings. In the midst of James' obsessive desire to win his childhood love back at all costs, and Kara's doting, deeply loving fiancee's intense desire, who will win her heart and who will lose? --- Old Title: Red Bully