Ariella is left with no choice other than taking Juanita to a new boarding school so she could go back to work. She encounters Maxwell on one of the trips and that's how what seemed like a love story began. They bonded over the death of Maxwell's daughter. Found comfort in each other's arms even though they never talked about their broken home and spouses. They kept intersecting unplanned at the airport and subsequently wanted to meet up because they missed each other and found each other comforting. However, things took another turn when Madison (Maxwell's Wife) and Paulo Gustavo (Ariella's Husband) discovered what was going on between these two.
In the sleek modern Heart Airport in Texas, a crew of flight attendants stroll purposefully through the halls heading to their respective stations to prepare for take-off. Chairman Paulo Gustavo, dressed in a single-breasted suit as usual, leaves the last button on his blazer unbuttoned as he walks out of a meeting with a crew of pilots.
He reaches for his phone and sends a text message to his wife Ariella while walking to his office.
Ariella, holding her phone, goes through the message which seems to surprise her. Immediately, her phone rings, it is her husband Paulo.
She picks up and says "What is this text I'm reading? Why are Juanita and I going to Malaysia?"
He coolly explains, "An international school in Malaysia contacted me while you were in-flight stating that Juanita has been accepted for enrollment. I've taken care of Juanita's paperwork and homestay already, all I need is for you to help her pack and bring her to the airport by tomorrow"
She cuts in "An international school, All of a sudden?"
"Help her pack and bring her to the airport tomorrow" he replies.
Ariella is astonished that he is telling her all of this so suddenly, but Paulo simply points out that she wasn't there when the school called.
"Have you spoken to your daughter, what was her reply to all of this? Ariella asks
He scoffs "She doesn't have a choice, I have the final say. It's all for the best. I was disappointed her previous school didn't work out. We can't leave her with a nanny either and since you decided you must go back to work; she has to be where she'll be taken care of".
He tells Ariella to just get Juanita to the airport in time and hangs up before she says anything more.
Ariella turns and hurries home, where she finds Juanita wiping the floors with a rag, apparently to prove that she's more useful at home. Juanita is clearly a dramatic but bright kid, and she's got lots to say about her Dad's decision; she rattles "Aren't I a good girl? Did I get in trouble when Abuela looked after me? You tried to send me off to Dad's sister after she died. Did I say I wanted to learn Mandarin? I don't care about global perspectives or learning Mandarin. Dad is being inconsiderate".
Her mother lets out a deep sigh, "I just found out myself. Dad notified..."
"Exactly!" Juanita cuts in, "Why all of a sudden? That's what I don't get".
"I'm sorry Nita, but.." Ariella says. "So you're just going to send me anywhere?" Juanita replies.
"It's not just anywhere, you know how picky Sarah is, she knows someone there. It's a nice and safe place".
"Mom. Are you on Dad's side? Do you want me to go so you two can work? How can you send your only daughter away like this? And you call yourself a mom" She says, as tears began rolling down her cheeks.
Ariella, looking frustrated, tries to comfort her, noting how much Juanita hated her school after her aunt got injured and she couldn't go to New Zealand. It would be embarrassing to have to go back to her old school right after going through all the tearful goodbyes. None of Ariella's comforts succeed even after she assures her she will fly there at least once a week to see her.
Juanita mournfully accuses her and Dad of being eager to send her off just so they can work. She sobs that she's scared, but Ariella only sighs as if there's nothing she can do. That night, Ariella packs Juanita's things until dawn.
Maxwell Stone is also up late at his office working on his architectural designs, but when he receives a call from his teenage daughter, Carol, he immediately heads outside, grinning at the dawn sky.
They banter cutely over the phone while he drives a scooter over a bridge overlooking the River, holding his phone camera up to the sunrise in a landscape manner for her to see.
"Hurry Dad, go faster. I miss and think about this view every day" she says.
"Think about your grandma who's eagerly waiting to see you. Will you visit this year?" her dad replies.
"I'm sightseeing, can you speed up a bit?" she says, as she avoids the question. Carol marvels at the image through the camera, squealing that Texas's sky is totally different from Malaysia's.
She tells him that she thinks her long-awaited roommate is arriving soon. "I have to clean the room and everything. It's not for free though, Mary said she'd give me fifty dollars daily to tidy up, but I'm going to use it to buy a new iron to replace Mary's ancient one that got broken. It was 10 years old" she adds.
"I can't scold you for being thoughtful," he says, smiling. What a sweetie she is, he thinks.
They went on and on and she says how sorry she is that she won't be able to visit him and Grandma in California again this time, but she promises to be there next time, especially for Grandma's birthday. He smiles, hangs up and stares at the sky for a little while before driving off.
After Maxwell hung up, Carol sat on her bed replaying the video from the call with her dad.
She gets another phone call shortly, this time from Mom. Interestingly, she looks much less excited than when she was talking to her Dad, Maxwell.
"I already told him I wouldn't go," she says, as she sadly assures her mom that she told her Dad she wasn't coming. She lets out a sigh of relief after the call ends, wondering why her mother always insists she shouldn't come home.
In the morning, Maxwell drives back to Point-one Interiors, a Firm that specializes in interior décor and makes handmade traditional decorative accessories, situated just in front of his residence.
An assistant outside working on some decorations informs Maxwell that the director stayed up all night preparing for the exhibition. "we're prepping for the exhibition. "Mrs Madison was here all night," she says.
He goes straight to his residence to freshen up. On getting close he sees Madison working through the window and lets out a warm smile. He gets in and walks straight into the bathroom to have a warm bath. Madison walks in while he is preparing breakfast, she walks up to him and pulls the towel from his neck, "that smells nice. Good morning" she says as she kisses him.
They sit comfortably together at the table. When he tells her that Carol won't make it to Texas again, she wonders why he keeps wanting her to come; "Don't you think she's too independent?" he says.
"Okay?, I thought you liked that about her," she replies. She told him to stop giving his mom false hope about Carol's coming to Texas and went on to surprise him with an invitation to go to Malaysia with her as she had already looked through his schedule and confirmed that he wasn't teaching a class today, so she knows he's free. She plans to check out the gallery for the exhibition there while he visits Carol.
In the morning, Ariella and Juanita loaded her bag into a taxi to the airport. The driver warns Ariella that her bags feel too heavy for the airport's weight limit, but Ariella lifts them and says assuredly: "Nope. 24.5 kg!". Amazingly, when they checked in Juanita's baggage, it was exactly 24.5 kg.
Paulo meets Ariella at the airport to help with check-in and asks her whether Juanita is still upset.
She tries to take their daughter's side, "She isn't angry, she's just scared. You should go talk to her. She came this far at least"
"Did she have a choice? I don't think you get the picture here. You of all people know how important this is" he replies.
"All I'm saying is you should try to be more understanding of her emotions" she warmly says, but Paulo only tells her that this is an incredible school where she'll be free to express herself and Ariella of all people should be more understanding and appreciative.
He buys Juanita a glass of juice before the flight, and they snap at each other in annoyance.
"Be nice to Mom while I'm gone" Juanita says,
"Be nice to me first," he replies.
"Is that all you can say to your daughter who's leaving? Mom wouldn't have sent me if you hadn't made a fuss. You always complain about my grades"
"You'll thank me for this for the rest of your life. Ensure you study hard and don't dare say you'd rather stay here" he warns.
Juanita thinks he's being irrational and mean, she glares at him, but when a pair of Air hostesses greet him as they pass, he laughs heartily and pinches her cheek as if they're a loving father-daughter pair.
Juanita tells him flatly: "I hate you". She ignores her father's hand and takes her mother's instead, and they head to board the plane.
Paulo receives a call from one of the crew members who called to inform him about a woman who was making a delivery to Mexico; "she's forced to run and seek refuge somewhere else because her drug-dealing boyfriend was murdered in Mexico" he reports. "She wasn't able to make the drop then was she?", it is silent at the other end of the call. Paulo asks how much loss that was and storms out angrily on getting a reply.
After witnessing her father's death and being forcefully taken away from her family and sold into prostitution at a young age, Bella never had seen or hoped for a better life outside what she was, let alone find love, but fate had betrayed her once more, giving her an enemy in disguise of a lover. She found love in the arms of Leonard, a saviour who rekindled her hope. Reuniting with her long-lost mother was a flicker of light in her darkness. But just as the tides turned, tragedy's shadow loomed. Her friends met the same chilling fate that had stolen her father and family, igniting a firestorm of fury within her. With vengeance in her heart, she set out to track down Drago, the one responsible. But what she discovered shook the very core of her existence. Betrayed, used, and burdened with the weight of disrespecting the memory of her father and lost friend, Bella stood at the precipice of an unthinkable choice. Could love and revenge coexist, or had Bella been pushed to the brink of darkness beyond return? Will her love for Leonard overthrow her quest for revenge?
In a chaotic world where predictability was far-fetched, the bullet of one man had killed thousands. I stared into his eyes, his facade giving nothing away, but darkness whirled in his eyes as they could pierce right into my soul. Damon Antonio, a mysterious man who sought no other woman except me, an ordinary orphan with a traumatic past, when my scars were visible and invisible. It was unclear why it was me he wanted, but his dark eyes gave nothing away. Having been sold by my uncle, to a man that held so much authority, I had to do whatever he told me to do. I had to follow his principles, I had to submit to him. I was terrified of him, being that he was so unpredictable. It turned out that Damon Antonio had bought me in order to marry me. I wanted to scream, to say no, but his presence alone choked all the words in my throat. I was just a weakling to a man who dealt with his enemies like they were nothing but animals. Drug dealing was his major, his wealth was extreme, and he owned clubs in states and countries. I turned out to be the wife of one of the most dangerous men in the world. And he had only one target, his brother. After his brother had killed their parents, Damon sought nothing but revenge. Damon was a man of mystery and power battling with his demons as they sought to be unleashed upon his brother one day. Derek Antonio, the silent killer. It was a battle between two brothers, one who was despised and the other filled with hatred. The answers had to be given, why had Derek killed their parents? Why did he seek to kill even Damon, his own brother? Could it be power? Or was it something else? Damon dragged me into his own world, using me as his bait to get to Derek Antonio. But along the way, Derek Antonio seemed to grow fond of me and that was when all hell broke loose. It caused me to wonder, had Damon fallen for me? He never revealed it, all he ever did was use me for his own pleasure. I was torn between two brothers now and didn't know how it would end. This was a world I never wanted to be a part of. And the worst part, is Damon never ceased to reveal his brutality. Living in his world was chaotic...with this man, there was only danger lurking, but my heart spoke other languages, fear, curiosity, and lust...with this man, it was different, especially when he swore to break me.
Vanessa finally broke free from the clutches of her obsessive and abusive ex, Cane Carnegie. ‘ "I own you, B*tch! You'll never be free." Cane's haunting words echo in her mind.’ The trauma still lingers, casting a dark shadow over her new marriage to Dale. Struggling to understand her pain, Dale finds himself ensnared by the seductive charms of his colleague, Valerie. ‘Valerie gets down from the desk, adjusts his chair and sits on his legs in a cowgirl position, then carries his both hands around her waist placing them on her ass as she looks into his eyes and says "Tell me you don't want this and I'll walk away, never to disturb you again.” ‘’ ***** "You deserve so much better than a damaged woman like Vanessa," Valerie whispers, her voice dripping with deceit. As Vanessa seeks solace in therapy and a chance at true love with a stunningly handsome Billionaire with a dark and Evil past, her past comes roaring back with a vengeance. Cane, the sociopathic ex, is determined to reclaim her as his own. His obsession is as unyielding as his physical strength, and he'll stop at nothing to dominate her once more. As Cane's aggression escalates, Vanessa must confront the darkness she thought she'd left behind. But her attempts to fight back only awaken a greater evil, threatening to destroy everything she holds dear. Can she survive the maelstrom of terror that surrounds her and reclaim her life? Or will she remain forever trapped between the horrors of her past and the terrors of her present? Her life and salvation is at the mercy of a man she barely knows.
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
"You're mine, little puppy," Kylan growled against my neck. A soft gasp escaped my lips as his lips brushed my skin. My mind screamed at me to push him away-the Lycan Prince who had humiliated me again and again, but my body betrayed me, leaning into him before I could stop myself. He pressed his lips against mine, and his kiss grew more aggressive, more possessive as I felt my legs weaken. What was I doing? In a split-second, I pulled away and slapped him hard across the face. Kylan's eyes darkened, but the smirk on his lips exposed his amusement. "You and I both know we can't fight this, Violet," he said, gripping my wrist. "You're my mate." "And yet you don't want me," I replied. "You told me you were ashamed of me, that l'd never be your queen, that you'd never love me. So please, accept my rejection and let me go." "Never," he whispered, his grip tightening as he pulled me closer. "Soon enough, you'll be begging for me. and when you do-I'll use you as I see fit and then I'll reject you."
“You need a bride, I need a groom. Why don’t we get married?” Both abandoned at the altar, Elyse decided to tie the knot with the disabled stranger from the venue next door. Pitying his state, she vowed to spoil him once they were married. Little did she know that he was actually a powerful tycoon. Jayden thought Elyse only married him for his money, and planned to divorce her when she was no longer of use to him. But after becoming her husband, he was faced with a new dilemma. “She keeps asking for a divorce, but I don’t want that! What should I do?”
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"