Paraíso

Victor Santos ingeriu acidentalmente um novo tipo de alucinógeno e seu estado era crítico. Como médica da família, fui forçada a me tornar o antídoto. Por ser naturalmente fértil, engravidei de primeira. Depois de me casar com ele, dei à luz a dois gêmeos, um menino e uma menina, ambos inteligentes e adoráveis. Mas, após o casamento, Victor não permitia que as crianças o chamassem de pai, e passava os dias abraçado à foto de sua amada falecida, afogando-se em bebidas. No décimo ano de casamento, ele ateou fogo em mim e nas crianças, e nos queimou vivos no porão. Afinal, durante todos esses anos, Victor guardava ressentimento por eu tê-lo "salvado". Ele sempre acreditou que me aproveitei da sua vulnerabilidade para me aproximar e subir na vida, o que acabou destruindo o relacionamento dele com a mulher que amava. Ela, abalada, sofreu um acidente de carro e morreu. Ao abrir os olhos novamente, descobri que voltei para o dia em que ele ingeriu acidentalmente o alucinógeno. Desta vez, deixei a sua amada ter a chance de salvá-lo, e eu me dirigi ao escritório...

—¿Señorita Ximénez, está segura de abortar? Diana Ximénez estaba aturdida, pero la insistente pregunta del doctor la hizo reaccionar de golpe. Abrió los ojos desorbitada, como si no creyera lo que veía. No fue hasta que el doctor repitió la pregunta que comprendió, ¡había renacido! En su vida anterior, justo ese mismo día, descubrió que estaba embarazada y tomó una decisión que le haría pagar un precio devastador. El doctor insistió de nuevo: —¿Señorita Ximénez? —¡Sí! Esta vez, la respuesta de Diana fue firme, aunque con un leve temblor en la voz. ¡Esta vez no cometería el mismo error!

Meskipun berstatus janda, banyak pria yang menginginkannya. Dari pemuda hingga pria dewasa tertarik dengan keindahannya. Karena stigma negatif sebagian besar orang, ia kerap dituduh dan dihina sebagai perebut lelaki orang. Tak jarang ia harus berpindah tempat karena kehadirannya saja dapat merusak hubungan orang. "Kamu harus mencari suami agar terhindar dari fitnah." Kata sahabatnya. Akankah ia menikah lagi hanya untuk menjaga nama baiknya? Ataukah ia memilih kebebasan yang membuatnya bahagia?

Sou casada com Renato Vieira há dez anos. Conheci todas as namoradas que ele teve desde o nosso casamento. Sempre que ele se cansava e queria trocar de companhia, eu virava a desculpa perfeita para ele terminar com cada uma delas. — Se você se casar comigo, vai acabar ficando como ela. No fim, a relação fica tão familiar que não sobra nem um pingo de novidade. No nosso aniversário de casamento, eu enxugava as lágrimas da última garota que ele tinha acabado de abandonar, enquanto ele assistia a um filme com a nova namorada. Depois de gastar uma caixa inteira de lenços, vi em seus olhos a imagem de quem eu já tinha sido um dia. Então, pedi o divórcio a Renato. Ele, pela primeira vez, pareceu confuso: — Não quer esperar mais um pouco? Quem sabe eu não mude e volte a ser o mesmo? Sorri de leve, sem responder, e comprei uma passagem para o outro lado do oceano. Já que não vou esperar pelo seu arrependimento, sigo eu primeiro.

Dikelilingi oleh tiga laki-laki tampan? Siapa sih yang tidak mau? Apalagi mereka udah mapan juga umur yang cukup untuk menikah. Semua impian para perempuan itu ada di dalam kriteria ketiga laki-laki tersebut. Tapi apa jadinya kalau ternyata ketiganya hanya mementingkan satu perempuan yang menyita seluruh perhatian mereka. Raika Catur Wiharja, seorang perempuan berumur 24 tahun yang sudah menjomblo selama dua tahun. Punya tiga kakak laki-laki tampan yang sudah mapan, tapi jomblo akut lebih dari ngenes karena ingin melihat adik bungsunya menikah terlebih dahulu. "Pokoknya kita nggak akan nikah sebelum Adek nikah duluan.” Itulah kira-kira kalimat yang terdengar seperti sumpah yang diucapkan kakak sulungnya dan disetujui oleh kedua kakaknya yang lain. Dan sang adik bungsu (sedikit) galau oleh sumpah konyol tersebut. Bagaimana bisa dia menikah duluan kalau setiap calon tambatan hati yang datang justru ditodong sederet cobaan oleh ketiga kakaknya?

Savannah was an adorable college student. To revenge her ex-boyfriend, Savannah was boldly intended to kiss a "handsome enough" man and take a video to piss her ex off. However, she chose Callan, the most eligible bachelor in the world. Out of Savannah's prediction, she was teased that she had no idea what a real kiss was. Then the man even taught her in person. In a great panic, Savannah ran away. Savannah left a deep impression on Callan. However, he never thought he would meet Savannah so soon, especially, at the... male toilet!

In order to take care of my father, who got hurt from a fall, I gave up on my chance to get promoted and even took a week's leave. On the day he gets discharged from the hospital, my dad hands me a mysterious envelope with a wide smile on his face. "Thank you for your trouble over the past few days, Luther. This is a little token of appreciation from me. You can buy yourself a nice pack of smokes." I rub my hands together, feeling warmth surging into my heart. But when I open the envelope, all I see is seven dollars. Still, I comfort myself in thinking that the sum isn't important at all. It's the thought that counts, after all. But the next day, I come across a social media post of my younger brother, Felix Grayson, who never showed his face around the hospital during Dad's hospitalization. It features a photo collage of a luxurious villa, with a photo of the purchasing contract smack dab in the middle of collage. The caption writes, "I bought the top-tier riverside villa for seven million dollars! Thank you so much for your support, Dad!"

After I succeed in helping my wife, Claire Gibson, establish her company, I decide to become a full-time stay-at-home dad without a worry in the world. Since my daughter, Nancy Davidson's 10th birthday is coming soon, I want to make the event fancy. So, I decide to place an order on Hill Hotel's birthday banquet services, where one full table of food costs 18 thousand dollars. When I'm swiping my card, the hotel employee shoots me a look. "Mr. Davidson, your card can barely foot for a 500-dollar bill." Embarrassed, I go home and question Claire about the family's finances. She looks at me apologetically instead. "My company has been participating in a bidding process lately. The newly-appointed governmental senior official is a greedy one, you see. I've spent quite a lot of money in bribing him just to get things done. "Once my cash flow is back, I'll definitely throw Nancy a fancy birthday banquet!" In a considerate manner, I tell Claire that I completely understand her situation. But soon, I start calculating the assets I still have. After all, my dad is the newly-appointed official. There aren't any bidding processes going on in the government at all. I'd like to see where on earth Claire has spent all of her money.

The newly hired genius programmer was a proud woman who always thought she could turn the entire industry on its head. When an investor tried to pressure her into drinking, she flipped the table and slapped him across the face. "My worth is in my programming skills, not my ability to network. Asking me to drink with you is an insult." Enraged, Clint Warner immediately withdrew the eighty-million investment agreement. He even swore he would never work with us again. As the Head of Product, I scrambled to apologize. The situation was only salvaged after I drank so much that I ended up hospitalized. … Later, I complained to the boss and demanded that he discipline the new hire. To my shock, he dismissed the matter. "If the employee causes any problem, it's because the supervisor failed in their duty. The promised million-dollar dividend bonus is cancelled. Take this as your warning." Fed up, I wrote down Mary Hansen's name on the Counseling-Out List. She couldn't care less. "I have abilities you’ll never match, unlike a scheming bootlicker like you. If anyone tries to go after me, the project will be halted. Don't come crying to me when everything collapses." I did not argue with her then. However, when the Counseling-Out List was announced, I found my own name on it. The boss claimed it was a mistake to force me to leave. Then he promoted Mary to my position and even granted her the authority of a vice president. "You were only great because of the company's support. Mary's not the same. She's young and truly talented. She’ll lead us to greater heights." With a cold smirk on my face, I made my way to our competitor, taking the crucial piece of our company's technology with me.

Melanjutkan cerita di Syair Singgasana Jilid 1 saat kekacauan di dunia di balik kabut semakin membesar, Bayu dan Ayunda harus berpisah demi misi penting yang dibebankan ke masing-masing. Saat itulah sebuah rahasia besar terungkap, tentang jatidiri pangeran yang dijanjikan, tentang Ratu yang terbuang, tentang balas dendam dan ambisi yang tiada batas, serta tentang darah para raja yang dipertaruhkan. Inilah syair yang lebih tajam dari seribu pedang, Syair Singgasana.