She got pregnant by the man she loved, but he left her. To protect the image of their family, Ayana Salma De'Mario was grounded and hidden like a bad omen, together with her child. Five years later, she knows only the walls of her room, her sweet five-year-old girl, her paintings, the young student she is teaching, and this mysterious ghost lover whom she has never met. But a tragedy strikes their family empire. In need of a savior, her family decided to trade the black sheep of the family to save their company. And in the picture enters the cold-hearted Adam Stone De'Leon, the most notorious heartbreaker the city has ever had. A proud womanizer who parades his sins as if they are crowns. But the moment he meets Ayana, something changes-something that leaves his walls in shambles. His heart starts beating for Ayana in ways he never imagined. He would go to any extreme to have her. Can she really resist him, or will she also make it to the list of uncountable women he has knacked and tossed aside like trash?
FLASHBACK. ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO
"Let's see. I will forget all this ignominy that you have brought upon me and this entire family. I will forgive you, Ayana, if you only tell me that that moron you were shamelessly fooling around with is on the way right now to marry you." My father's despotic tone echoes, shooting an arrow directly into my bleeding heart.
How I wish that was the case. At least I would leave this house, and he wouldn't have to look at me with this shame and hurt. Ooh, how I wish!
"No, Dad! I am sorry, but there will be no marriage. He won't take responsibility either." I hiccupped, my face almost sweeping the floor with shame.
I cannot bear to look my father in the eye again. The scorching heat of his breathing on the side of my face is cogent evidence of how enraged he is right now.
My eyes are pools of tears. My nose is all red from blowing it. And my head is a whirlwind of emotions. The shame I am feeling right now is immeasurable. I wish the ground would open up and swallow me right now.
I know I messed up big time. Believe me, it wasn't my intention, because I know just how much my family's icon and repute mean to us all. But how was I supposed to know that I loved a heartless, shameless, dickhead who did not love me at all? How was I supposed to know that he was only after this cursed thing between my legs?
"Just what have you done, sis? I always warned you about that guy, but you didn't listen. See now what you have done to us. How will people see us now? How will we even face society with this shame?"
And here comes the mocking voice of my baby sister.
Yeah. She warned me. Countless times, freaking yes! And, ooh, yeah, I did not listen. How was I supposed to go against the desires of my heart? I was in love, you know. Can nobody really infer that fact alone and cut me some slack?
But in a sixth sense, I think I appreciate her jeering and my father's rancor more than the mutism of my mother. She has not uttered a word since I broke the news to them minutes ago. Only God knows what she thinks of me, but I just wish she could at least say a word. Her silence hurts more than anything.
"Then at least tell me you have a plan out of this mess and save us from the embarrassment of being the talk of the nation, Ayana. We cannot afford that! What do you plan to do with that bastard in your womb?"
Shoot me! Wait a minute.
Is that my father speaking like that?
I had to raise my head and gawk at him in disbelief. His eyes are an inferno of rage and loathing. His countenance depicts seriousness. The words did not just erroneously slip from his mouth. He meant to say every single letter he uttered.
But... I infer that this is not the way they would have chosen to become grandparents, but it happened. And there is nothing to change about this whole'mess' as he called it. But through this mess, they are expecting their first grandchild. Shouldn't that at least make them look at this scenario from a different angle?
A bastard?
How can my child, their first grandchild, the great heir or heiress of their empire-how can he call my baby a bastard?
"I have no time, Ayana. What is your plan? Speak up before I lose it all!" He speaks again before I can finish analyzing his facial idioms or digest his unbelievable words.
I take a deep breath, amassing all the boldness in me to exude my willingness to take responsibility for my actions as is expected of me.
"I will raise my child alone, father. My child will..."
He raises a hand to my face, shutting me up. A cold chill cuts through my bones, almost paralyzing me. That is what they expect of me, right?
"I see you have decided to throw your life away just like that, and even though I want to kick you out right now and disown you for disgracing me this way, I am still your father, Ayana. And for the sole reason that my blood runs through you, I will swallow this bitter pill and let you have that bastard, but here are my orders for your shameless actions and staining the name I have built and protected for years."
I swallow hard, holding my breath as I await my judgment. Everything in the surroundings falls silent, and we all snap at him in awe as he speaks with authority.
"You are forever grounded!!! There is no more college, and not even your shadow should appear in any of the family's activities or be seen out of this compound. Your face and that of the bastard you are carrying will remain hidden as the disgrace that you are."
Hell just broke loose!
God, please tell me I did not hear any of that right.
The ground I am standing on trembles. It's as if it is being ripped off from under me. I attempt to fix my eyes on him, to try and see whether he is joking or not. But the opaque curtains of tears in my eyes are impairing my vision. I see nothing but blurriness. My whole being is convulsing while his world hangs in my head like a heavy cloud.
Hang on. No! My loving father cannot do this to me. I messed up, yes, but the situation is not this serious, right?
"Dad, I am sorry, okay? I am deeply sorry for what I have done, but please, you cannot do this to me." I plead, scouring away the tears from my eyes so that he can see the sincerity of my plea.
But as our eyes meet, I can bet on the innocent seed in my womb that my words did not mean anything to him. He has made up his mind and spoken his thoughts. And there is no going back on his words.
I turn to my mom, pleading for her intervention on this, but her glare alone shifts mine from hers. It is crystal clear that she has righted my father's unjust judgment. I look at my sister, but she gives me the same look as my mother's. They are all in agreement. Nobody is willing to do anything to help me.
Only I can help myself.
I drag my blurry vision to my father, reaching for his hand to plead with him. But he grips my hand tight, pressing it so hard that I scream in pain.
"Dad! You are hurting me!" I cry out, wincing at the pain.
"This is nothing compared to the pain and shame you have inflicted on me and this family, Ayana. I am so ashamed to even call you my own!" He lets go of me and starts to walk away.
But I am still his daughter despite all this, right? He still has a soft spot in his heart to listen to me and show me a little mercy.
"Dad, please! Do not do this to me. It is not fair!" I howl, and it seems like luck is on my side because he halts in his tracks.
I was not wrong to think that he still has some sympathy and love left for me.
He turns to me, and we rock eyes, mine glowing with gratitude and expectations, but his are an assortment of something I cannot decipher. Something that makes me doubt my take on him stopping.
I swallow hard!
And he speaks, proving me dead wrong!
"I said I could not kick you out, Ayana, but I did not say that you were not free to leave on your own free will. If you cannot take what I am offering, then by all means, the door is wide open. Just make sure you do not take this family's name the second you step out of that door!!!"
And with that, my father does not even spare me another glance. He turns his back on me, and my mother and sister follow behind him, leaving me to make my own decision: to either leave my home and everything behind and chase freedom, or stay like a prisoner in my own home.
--------------END OF FLASHBACK----------
"You are a cold-blooded psycho! Get your filthy, bloodstained hands off me!" Through clenched teeth, Irma shrieked as she battled to liberate herself from the man's barbarous hold. His eyes were a refulgent inferno. They held an insidious fire of lust as they thrived deeper into her debilitated ones. "How flattering!" The man sneered, and Irma froze. A ripple of both ice and fire skint in her nerves at the man's vexatious riposte. Before she could amass any little bravery left in her, the man spoke again in a hoarse tremor, erupting a chill down her spinal tube. "But if you don't watch your sweet, dirty mouth, you snoopy, pesky brat, my third leg will shut it for you! Or maybe," he wavered, and fixed his dangerous, lascivious gazes on hers, gently stroking her hair as if petting his sweet, wild pet, "that is what you want, little dove?" A freelance journalist, flaming with ardent desires to unveil the secrets behind the series of mysterious disappearances happening in the city. Her hunch points her to the dark underworld of the mafia, and unfortunately, she crashes into LUCCA DE'MATTHEW-the other name for terror! Their encounter will evoke a catastrophe that only they can solve. But how, if their mere beingness is a menace to each other?
I spent years cleaning up a man. We were in love, or should I better say, I was in love, because in the end, that is what that shit felt. After all that I did for him, he heartlessly broke my heart. Found him in bed with our wedding planner two weeks to our wedding. And he had the balls to take pleasure in my pains. I almost became a murderer that night. Almost killed a man. I put the very first stain on my family's spotless name. My father could not take it. He distanced himself from me and stood a safe distance to watch the whole world rise against me. But in all these difficult and trying moments, one thing remained my solace and my beacon of all the good vibes that I yearned for-Joe Fredrick Montana. My stepbrother. And before we knew it, the connection bloomed into something we both never anticipated. It is wrong, yet so strong! It is forbidden, yet irresistible. For a while, none of us seemed to care about the consequences of our steamy undercover affairs, until something that threatens to tear everything between us and beyond happens. This, is our story!
Her grave sin was her spellbinding allure that blurred the blood-tie line for him, and his grave mistake was obsessing over a girl he was supposed to exterminate. The vicious King of Evil, the one who didn't have a heart, now finds himself trapped between vengeance, and the irresistible burning desires for the only remaining enemy he has left - and she, oblivious of the abysm of the evil he exudes, is determined to liberate herself from the cage of the monster at all costs. But her desires are inconceivable. Absurd! invalid dreams- or so did everyone thought, until things started taking a turn. What transpires when the vicious heartless monster finds himself at the feet of his culprit? What more miseries await Ella when the truth of her connection with the monster and the mystery besieging her get revealed?
Betrayed by her fiance and her family, Ellie thought, for a fleeting moment, that being tied down to a ghost she had never known was the only option. But that was until a wild thought banged her head. "Run, Ellie!" Her mind screamed. The heart is always right, they say, and at that point in her life, Ellie had no one to trust but her shattered heart. She ran into a new city, and as if fate had chosen to compensate her for all the sufferings she had gone through, she crashed with someone who swept her off her feet on their very first encounter. But months later, a call came through from home: "Ellie, my child. You need to come ASAP! Your father has been seriously ill. Your father needs you now more than ever." The voice of her nanny echoed through the line. The following morning, Ellie was once again packing her bags and saying goodbye to the love she had found. Finding her father on his sick bed and with a swam of doctors surrounding him broke Ellie's heart into a million pieces. And then came her father's plea in his sick bed. "My dear, I am giving you a choice out of this, but on one condition: that you have to meet your betrothed even just this once. Whatever you decide after that, I, your father, will respect your decision." This was what Ellie had always wished for, but given the situation, she knew she could not upset her father. She had to concede. But the moment her supposed ghost betrothed walked in, Ellie realized one thing: she had never known the face of betrayal until that particular moment!
“You are a cold-blooded psycho! Get your filthy-blood-stained hands off me!” Through clenched teeth, Irma shrieked as she battled to liberate herself from the man's barbarous hold. His eyes were a refulgent inferno. They held an insidious fire of lust as they thrived deeper into her debilitated ones. "How flattering!” The man sneered, and Irma froze. A ripple of both ice and fire skint in her nerves at the man’s vexatious riposte. Before she could amass any little bravery left in her, the man spoke again in a hoarse tremor, erupting a chill down her spinal tube. “But if you don't watch your sweet-dirty-mouth, you snoopy, pesky brat, my third leg will shut it for you! Or maybe," he wavered, and fixed his dangerous lascivious gazes on hers, gently stroking her hair as if petting his sweet wild pet, “Is that what you want, huh, little kitten?” A freelance journalist, flaming with ardent desires to unveil the secrets behind the series of mysterious disappearances happening in the city. Her hunch points her to the dark underworld of the mafia, and unfortunately, she crashes into LUCCA DE’MATTHEW - the other name for terror! Their encounter will evoke a catastrophe that only they can solve. But how, if their mere beingness is a menace to each other?
She was all alone, wallowing in divine grief and lamenting her losses. She had nothing to call her own, and all her wounds had refused to heal. She yearned for just one thing now—to disconnect from the cruel world. In the darkness, she closed her eyes, hoping to awaken in a place of tranquility—in heaven, surrounded by the beautiful souls she had lost. But to her bewilder, she found herself in bed the next morning with someone she would never have anticipated seeing again, especially in the darkest moment of her life—Liam Morgan Adams. Her ex. And he came with his own overflowing bucket of surprisal and sorrows that, for reasons best known to him, only Lynn could help him carry. "Bear me a child, Lynn. The price is yours to name.” He spoke, and everything in Lynn froze. A child! Her head spun some degrees, and when it settled, she squinted as the raw memories of her past pains surged in, fused with the memories of what they once had. And his constant, desperate plea left her between a rock and a hard place. Can she do this? Can this be her redemption? And Liam, why would a filthy, married billionaire ask for a child out of wedlock? And why Lynn, of all people?
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.
Anabel found out she was pregnant and dialed her husband's number to share the good news to him. They have been married for two years without a child. Desmond's mother had been accusing her of being barren and unproductive. When the call was picked, she was flabbergasted and broken. She was hearing a loud moan of feminine voice. "Ohh! Yeah! Don't stop fucking me! Fuck me harder baby!" accompanied with sound of skins slapping against the other. She went home to confront her husband and end up receiving a divorce paper. Desmond divorced him for a lady his mother was rooting. Few months later when he found out that his ex-wife is a billionaire heiress and she is pregnant with twins, he went crazy!
Kaelyn devoted three years tending to her husband after a terrible accident. But once he was fully recovered, he cast her aside and brought his first love back from abroad. Devastated, Kaelyn decided on a divorce as people mocked her for being discarded. She went on to reinvent herself, becoming a highly sought-after doctor, a champion racer, and an internationally renowned architectural designer. Even then, the traitors sneered in disdain, believing Kaelyn would never find someone. But then the ex-husband’s uncle, a powerful warlord, returned with his army to ask for Kaelyn’s hand in marriage.
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."