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At the age of ten, everything and nothing gained meaning to Susana after the sudden disappearance of her mother. She once believed her father had something to do with it until her mother began to send her birthday presents and lots of money claiming it was the only way to keep up her negligence. She could go with that, after all, her mother is alive, or so she thought. Years later, her path unexpectedly crossed with the perfect billionaire son who brings light to her lost ambitions. But there, a lot must be given, and being unwilling to have her free life chained in the disguise of LOVE and CHANGE, brought her into struggles to decide between staying the same or being conquered by Patrick's advice. Patrick, whose home is the definition of scripts, believed Susana's carefree life will bring him a bright atmosphere. The deeper he sinks with her, the more he dwelt in her style. He knows she is the mood he ever wanted but there are things to set right before he loses himself in her world. Getting to know her better and her reasons for being so untamed, an ugly revelation about her mother's whereabouts began to unfold and have him caught in the web. All were down to hard choices between family and love. Can they rebuild on a forgiving slate? Or will they ignore their feelings and dwell in a cage of revenge?
~~TWELVE YEARS AGO~~
A shattered sound erupted below her bedroom and like every other night, her dreamland is interrupted. It pulled her out of sleep and into awareness of the hour.
Observing the sky through the open windows, she could tell from the thickness of the dark cloud that it is the hour of the Ox.
She isn't awed by the pollution caused by her parents, they are bound to it.
She yawned in frustration, nothing but a peaceful night's rest has always been her wishlist but as usual, her prayers have never been answered.
"You slutty bitch!"
Her father's angry voice from the living room below got her framed and curling in bitterness.
He is at it again.
She'd wonder how a slender man could own such a roar of a voice. His screaming the calm night into wary isn't a string on Susana, she has accustomed to the voice that fear no more lives in her.
"stay away from me!"
Hearing her mother, she feared instead for her. He is going to beat her up again even as he knows she can barely stand on both legs to defend herself due to her shaky arteries.
Mother always shudders uncontrollably most nights and tonight is one. Her shivers are there even when she holds the saucer of eggs every morning fixing breakfast for her.
The reasons for her unsteady muscles are unknown to Susana and she hopes her mother would stop being scared of Father and learns to be bold and fight back since it is down to it.
Weakness has never saved her and now, her pleas won't stop Father from hitting her either; it will only ignite him more.
"Tell me, Anna! What the fuvk did you do with him this time?"
He yelled louder causing Susana to quickly grab her robe and rush out to hopefully save her mother. Mother has warned her to stay in her room whenever she hears an argument like this one, sadly, she is not a child that listens.
Father's deafening yells came along with more smashes. She needs not to know what her mother did. At any cause, she doesn't deserve that ill-treatment.
Watching her mother succumb to weakness over time molded Susana into a fearless ten-year-old girl. She never wants to be in that helpless and pitiful state like her mother. The site is scornful.
"Stay away!....don't, please. Come no closer,"....slouching on the center table, Mother pleaded with Father in a whisper but all she receives were kicks, making her grunt in pain.
The more Susana descends the stairs the more fierce she grips the rails. Seeing the living room newly designed with broken bottles and of course, the two vases on the center table which were replaced days ago after a fight like this were equally shattered.
Standing at the foot of the stairs, she looked at her mother rowing on the floor like a crawler. She is neither crying nor screaming, her moans, are faint and her pale reddish face tells she is doomed. She will collapse in a minute and if it happens, she may remain comatose for ages.
Susana hastily walked over and scooped her ignoring the cuts under her feet. The broken objects in the room pierced her tender feet, leaving threats of blood covering every surface.
Susana is numbed from the cuts and shows concern only for her mother. Wrapping her little hands around her back, she tried helping but her mother is too heavy to behold. She retired and squat to feel her face. Mother lifted her face in agony.
Ohh, baby!"... Her mother weakly smiled at her which freed all the locked emotions Susan has been possessing.
"Momma."
"Go on....go back to your room now."
"Are you okay momma?"
She only dropped her face and grunted and stretched to get a better hold of the table. Susana knew her mother isn't okay but didn't know what else to say.
"I will call for help." She stood to grab the telephone. An ambulance or cop will do.
"No! no baby. Don't."
This is not the first time she would refuse help. She'd tell Susana that no one can help her, not even herself.
"Why again momma? You need help."
"Don't. Please."
Susana shoved the tears threatening to drop and decided to do as Mother want.
"Ok. No help. But can you walk?"
"Back to your room Susana!"
His voice interrupted, alerting her again of his presence. She has forgotten about him. He bent and forcefully pulled her from mother and like a pulse, she dashed towards him and pushed on his belly with all her strength.
"Leave her alone!"
She finally gave in to her emotions and she began to weep. She hated her state, she has become her mother, weak and helpless. She stood weeping into her palms.
"I hate you," she whispered into her palms.
She was inaudible, she only could hear those hate words. Mother told her never to use them but at the moment, she felt the adrenaline to explode her lungs with it.
'"I hate you!" She screamed unto her father's face.
She felt good and fearless once again. She watched as her father stared in bewilderment, which reproduced her courage...." I hate you...." she screamed again and more.
He retrieved his steps as his daughter kept screaming with her eyes shuts and veins widely exposed through her neck. Susana amidst her screams heard her father's heavy steps storming out of the living room and banging hard the entrance door.
One thing is certain, her father never hits her. He rather walks out at all times than turn her into a lunching box as he does to Mother.
He does not know. If only he knows she feels the same pain as when he inflicted it on her mother. He may not have hit her, but hitting her mother is no different and generates no forgiveness.
"Hey baby," she turned to her mother's voice and quickly reach to support her who was trying to adjust to a sitting position.
"Do not cry." Mother said amidst cough.
"Momma?"
"Wipe your tears, Susana....here, I will do that for you."
Mother raised her shaking hands to Susana's face and wiped some tears. She assisted her mother in doing the same, using her already wet palm to dry her tears.
"Good. I don't want you to ever waste a tear for me or anyone. Do you hear me, baby?"
"Yes momma."
Although her mother's words were clear and stern, her voice gives her away to frailty.
"You are shaking momma. Dada is no scarecrow. Ok, don't be afraid of him, momma."
Mother nodded. She never wanted Susana to see her like this. Before her birth, she had promised to be the best chapter of Guardian and ensures she never sees or lives in a panorama. She has failed. She brings nothing but worries upon her.
"Can you walk momma?"
"Get me some water, will you?"
Anna grunts in pain and watches her daughter run into the kitchen, she knew she has failed as a mother, but she hopes for redemption and time to make her life better. She took the water her daughter brought and led them afterward to bed. She assured Susan she doesn't need a doctor before petting her to sleep.
With a broken heart, she went downstairs to clean up the mess the fight had caused.
My name is Lisa and I am only attracted to girls. I realized that since the day I began to feel my genitalia. But no one must know about it; not when I live in a religious girls' high school. It is considered unholy to love a fellow girl. It is against the school rules, and a rumor about it will result in the expulsion of the involved students. I wouldn't want to be expelled. I fear the humiliation it holds and the disappointment it might bring to my parents. My parents sent me to this religious school for a sort of cleansing from my abominable choice of sexuality. Although they failed to understand I didn't choose to like girls, I do not want to be expelled back to them or see them hurt more than they are hurting. So, I dwelled in secret; surviving the co-habitation of other girls until Uriel came along. I couldn't resist Uriel's sweet sculpted face, endowed body figure, and perfect curvy lips. I couldn't withstand her charm. So, I decided to risk everything and have that 'unholy' relationship with her. For Uriel, I could face the world and fight, but I didn't consider if Uriel would want the same. After I kissed her and confessed my feelings, I saw maybe, just maybe, I should have remained in the closet and had my secret buried with me. Uriel received me with disgust, exposed me to everyone, and had me expelled from school. My life turned left. I hated myself for years and ended up living in lies about liking men. Now she is back, apologizing and professing her undying love. Should I believe she reappeared to love me right? Should I embrace my unquenched feelings for her or take on the revenge I've always wanted?
After the uptight billionaire's son, Greg, had an intimacy with a male stranger, the incident aroused a keen quest about his sexuality which he had been in denial of. Soon, he acknowledged and accepted his preference. When Autumn bred a new session, he fancied and fell in love with the new hottest guy in school. Meanwhile, this hot guy, Nicholas, enrolled in the school in search of someone to whom he must attain his wrongdoings and win his love. He must not pay attention to anyone's feelings until he finds HIM. It was a challenge for Greg to captivate Nicholas's heart, but he refused to give up. Despite the hard time, Nicholas put him through, he tried his best to show his intention. When Nicholas couldn't avoid the existence of Greg, he paid little attention to him, and there, he discovered who he was and was swept by how such a person would want him. It became difficult for Nicholas to make a decision. He did not know if he should continue his search for the one he loves or focus on the one who loves him.
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"
“Drive this woman out!” "Throw this woman into the sea!” When he doesn’t know Debbie Nelson’s true identity, Carlos Hilton cold-shoulders her. “Mr. Hilton, she is your wife,” Carlos’ secretary reminded him. Hearing that, Carlos gives him a cold stare and complained, “why didn’t you tell me earlier?” From then on, Carlos spoils her rotten. Little did everyone expect that they would get a divorce.
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”
Lucia Balstone thought she had chosen the right man to spend the rest of her life with, but he was the one who ended her life. Their ten-year marriage seemed like a joke when her husband stabbed her with a dagger. Fortunately, God is never blind to people's tears. Lucia got a second chance. She was reborn at the age of 22, before all the terrible things had happened. This time, she was determined to avenge herself and let those who hurt her pay! She made an elaborate list of her goals, and the first thing on her list was to marry her ex-husband's enemy, Alonso Callen!
The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."