Novel & Cerita Withered Flower

After a regrettable one-night stand with the school’s golden boy, Roman Knight, Reyna’s world turned upside down. When Roman denied ever knowing her, she was left heartbroken, bullied, shamed, and forced to watch her reputation crumble. Giving her first time to someone who tossed her aside made everything worse. Years later, Reyna Styles is no longer the shy, broken girl, she’s the most sought-after fashion designer in the country, exuding confidence and power. When fate brings Roman back into her life, he acts friendly, but Reyna brushes him off, coolly pretending she doesn’t remember him at all. Now that she’s the one in control, the tables have truly turned. But has Reyna really closed her heart to the boy who once shattered her, or is there still a flicker of old feelings hiding beneath her icy exterior?

"I thought I was his wife. To him, I was just a placeholder for the woman he actually loved." For three years, Evelyn lived as a ghost. To the world, she was the penniless orphan who hit the jackpot by marrying the cold, ruthless billionaire Caleb Knight. She played the part of the perfect, drab wallflower, cooking his favorite meals, enduring his family’s sneers, and secretly using her hidden Sterling Empire connections to save his company from the brink of bankruptcy. But on their third anniversary, the fairy tale shattered. Instead of a gift, Caleb handed her divorce papers. "Seraphina is back," he said, his voice as cold as ice Humiliated and discarded, Evelyn signs the papers and vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a positive pregnancy test in the trash, a secret Caleb wasn't worth knowing. Two years later, Caleb Knight’s "luck" has run out. His empire is bleeding, and his only hope is a merger with the mysterious, untouchable Sterling Global Group. Gone is the shy, plain girl in the $10 dress. Standing there in couture diamonds, flanked by three of the world's most powerful men, is his ex-wife. She is radiant, she is powerful, and she returns with a little boy who looks just like him and a girl who shares her aura. "Evelyn?" Caleb gasps, falling to his knees. "I... I’ve been looking for you. Please, come home." She steps over his hand as if he were a piece of trash. "I’m sorry, Mr. Knight,"she purrs, her voice dripping with lethal indifference. "The wallflower you threw away is dead. This is the Empress speaking and she finds you quite... boring." He broke her heart. Now, she’s going to break his empire!

‘Why are the tastiest apples always forbidden? Why do we have to sacrifice our love because our parents got engaged?’ These questions rushed through my mind as he kissed me deeply, pinning me against the wall. I knew that after this, he would say cruel things to me with those same lips, but I couldn't resist him. I loved him but I hated myself for loving him. “Marcus, please. We can't keep doing this.” I begged. But as usual, he ignored my pleas and continued in his caresses, making me want him more. We were lost in our forbidden desires once again, not realizing that the door was left unlocked. Why does my stepbrother keep seducing me? What if our parents discover our secret affair?

Ian Tost was the prince of the notorious underworld. Everyone in Harbor City knew he spoiled me rotten. He even went so far as to hire ninety-nine female bodyguards to keep me from harm. It did not prevent a kidnapping attempt on me. One of those bodyguards, Cece Yates, ended up with nothing more than a scratch. Ian immediately brought in the nation’s top medical specialists to treat her. To comfort her, he even took her to the Maldives for a vacation and gifted her an island. Not long after they returned from their trip, Beatrix Kazinsky, my mother, suddenly suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Then, Michael Kazinsky, my younger brother, died in an accident during a competition. I burst into the morgue while in tears, only to overhear Ian comforting Cece. “All right now, it was my fault you got hurt last time. I’ve made Mira’s family pay for it. You’ve got too much grace to hold a grudge against her.” With my nails digging into my palms, I finally realized everything that had happened to my family was Ian’s doing. It was all just because his precious bodyguard got hurt because of me! I stumbled out of the hospital with my brother’s death certificate in a daze. On my phone, messages from that person kept coming. It added up to ninety-nine share transfer agreements, along with his promise. [As long as you want me, my arms will always be open for you.]

Matthew Sinclair Chan, a wealthy bachelor whose marriage was decided by his authoritative father. To escape the situation, he went to the US and there he found a solution to his problem. Harebell was about to take the last semester of her studies in New York when she received unfortunate news from her family, they were scammed and lost a huge amount of money including their properties. Struggling financially, to fund her studies, she took a part time job as a nanny to a wealthy family where she met the escaped bachelor. After discovering Harebell's financial problem, he made a proposition, one that Harebell never expected that she would go through and cannot ignore. A marriage in exchange for her family's release from debt and her brother bail out from prison. But will a marriage last when the foundation was money? What secret will she bear once the contract ends and divorce comes their way? A secret. An affair. A mistake. A confession. The unknown's revelation. What life will she live in the hands of the bachelor?

For she knows that within him is a force that is like that of a hurricane- wild, natural, untamed, and irrepressible. The rate of success to pulled taut as his mate was ever more elusive. Tatiana Kintyre Wilbur Thyagaraja is the Alpha's mate, but due to her drawback of capabilities as his other half, the Alpha despised her to the extent of killing her whole family. Just like a flower who's yet to bloom, she was peeled, bruised, scarred, and most of all, withered by the man who was supposed to be her half. Can she stumble upon a pullback for her way to save herself from damnation? Or perhaps, manipulated by his domination and die within his hands?

Di tahun ketiga pernikahanku dengan Jovan, tiba-tiba adik angkatnya, Jenny, mengirimkan sebuah video kepadaku. Aku membukanya dan melihat Jovan mengikat adik angkatnya di kepala ranjang menggunakan dasi yang baru saja kuberikan padanya. Sementara adik angkatnya terbaring telanjang di bawahnya, tanpa henti memanggilnya sebagai suami. Setelah itu mereka berpelukan erat. Jenny melingkarkan lengannya di leher Jovan dan merengek, “Kakak, aku nggak suka cincin yang kamu berikan padaku itu. Ambil saja dan berikan pada Kakak Ipar, anggap saja itu hadiah ulang tahun dariku.” Keesokan harinya, aku duduk di restoran mewah. Menatap kursi kosong di seberangku dengan pikiran melayang. Tiba-tiba, wakilnya mendorong kue besar ke arahku. “Pak Jovan ada urusan mendadak, jadi dia meminta saya mengantarkan hadiah ulang tahun ini untuk Nyonya.” Kotak itu berisi cincin, persis seperti cincin yang tidak diinginkan adik angkatnya. Lalu, sebuah foto baru dikirimkan ke ponselku. Jovan sedang menemani adik angkatnya berobat di rumah sakit. Aku tidak menangis atau membuat keributan. Aku dengan tenang menandatangani perjanjian perceraian. Lalu meminta seseorang menyiapkan sebuah pesta pernikahan. “Nyonya, siapa nama pengantin pria dan pengantin wanita yang harus ditulis?” “Jovan Gunawan dan Jenny Gunawan.” Tujuh hari kemudian, aku akan membiarkan seluruh dunia melihat betapa liarnya Ketua Mafia yang selalu serius itu, bermain-main secara pribadi dengan adik angkatnya.

My husband Hades gave another woman my birthday celebration. Then he gave her my mother’s brooch. Then he let our son call her home. Nympha was the flower spirit who had grown up beside him. The healers said a curse was killing her, and she had only six months left before she disappeared forever. Hades said he only wanted her final days to be free of regret. So I was expected to be generous. Even when our five-year-old son, Eren, curled up beside her at the hearth and whispered that she felt more like home than I did, I still told myself he was only a child. Then one night, I heard him say to Hades, “Nympha is so gentle. So beautiful. I wish Mother could be more like her.” Hades only smiled. “Your mother is strict because she wants what is best for you,” he said. “But if you like Nympha so much, I can let her stand beside you at the family altar. She can bless you like a second mother.” That was when I finally understood. My husband had already given her my place. And my son had accepted her there. So the next morning, I placed a marriage dissolution agreement before Hades. He signed it without reading, because Nympha had collapsed again and he was desperate to reach her.By the time he realized what he had signed, I was already gone. If they wanted Nympha to be the lady of the Underworld, I would grant them their wish. But why, after I left, did Hades tear the Underworld apart looking for me? Why did my son cry himself sick, begging for the mother he once pushed away? And why did the dying woman they protected so carefully suddenly stop looking so fragile?

Di hari ulang tahunku, aku dan adik angkatku mengalami kecelakaan mobil. Saat api mulai mengoyak tubuhku, tunanganku justru menunjuk ke kursi penumpang dan berseru, "Selamatkan Julia dulu, dia punya penyakit jantung!" Saat terbangun, wajahku hancur sepenuhnya, dan hidupku divonis tinggal satu bulan lagi. Demi kepentingan bisnis kedua keluarga, orang tuaku memutuskan agar adik angkatku menggantikanku untuk menikah. Tunanganku membelai perban di wajahku dengan penuh simpati, lalu berjanji, "Setelah kamu sembuh, posisi Nyonya Rivano tetap akan menjadi milikmu." Aku tersenyum dan menyetujuinya. Bahkan, aku memberikan semua saham, aset properti, hingga karya lukisanku yang belum dipublikasikan sebagai hadiah pernikahan untuk adikku. Bermodalkan lukisanku, dia menjadi seniman besar yang dipuja banyak orang. Saat diwawancarai wartawan, ibuku menangis haru. "Syukurlah dulu bukan dia yang celaka. Kalau nggak, keluarga kami pasti akan kehilangan sosok genius seperti dia!" Tunanganku pun mengumumkan dengan bangga bahwa adikku akan menjadi satu-satunya nyonya di Keluarga Rivano. Akan tetapi, mereka tidak tahu bahwa sang genius yang asli sedang memperhatikan mereka dengan dingin dari sudut ruangan. Dan segala hal yang kuberikan dengan tanganku sendiri itu .... Sejak awal hanyalah tumbal yang kusiapkan untuk membalas dendam.

Setelah adikku pergi ke luar negeri, aku menggantikan dia menikah dengan Ketua Geng mafia. Selama lima tahun pernikahan, kami adalah dua orang yang paling saling membenci. Dia membenciku karena mengira akulah yang memaksa adik pergi, lalu memakai cara licik untuk menjadi istrinya. Aku membencinya karena sejak awal sampai akhir dia selalu menganggapku hanya sebagai pengganti, bahkan tidak pernah mengumumkan identitasku ke publik. Justru karena tidak diakui, orang tuaku yang gengsi menanggung segala hinaan, dan sejak itu mereka pun membenciku sampai ke tulang. Di akhir kehidupan sebelumnya, dia dan kedua orang tuaku demi merayakan Natal untuk adikku, melupakan diriku di pegunungan bersalju. Di tengah kedinginan yang membeku, aku dan anakku yang belum sempat dilahirkan meninggal bersama. Sementara itu, adikku menikmati seluruh limpahan kasih sayang, menjalani Natal paling bahagia dalam hidupnya. Saat membuka mata kembali, aku kembali ke hari pertama adikku pulang ke tanah air. Di kehidupan ini, aku tidak akan lagi memohon cinta dari Adriano maupun dari kedua orang tuaku.