When Your Mother Doesn't

On Thanksgiving, my husband Steven Mandel showed up with another woman. Not just anyone—Fiona Osborne, his first love. She had Alzheimer's and only remembered him. And yeah, he said she was moving in. Steven's eyes were ice. "Erica, I stayed away from Fiona out of duty. But I'm not wasting what time I have left without her." Happy 50th anniversary to me. No gift—just a slap-in-the-face love confession. Maya, my daughter-in-law, tried to talk some sense into him, bless her. Then Anton—my own son—cut in. "Mom already kept Dad away from Fiona for years. She's tied ME to you for half my life. Now Dad just wants to take care of the woman he loves—what's so wrong with that?" Steven stepped in front of Fiona like some kind of hero. "Anton's right. Erica, I let you play the wife role for decades. Now, I want to be with the woman I truly love. "If you can't handle that, let's just get a divorce." I stood there, frozen. I'd walked away from a powerhouse law career for this family after we had Anton. I thought I had given everything, and in their eyes, I would be a perfect wife and a perfect mother. But today made it clear—I was never enough. No matter how much I gave, it was never going to be enough. I turned to Maya. She was crying. "You wanna get divorced together?"

Two years ago, I was one of the Disease Control Agency's best researchers. But while I was investigating a batch of virus samples with unsequenced genetic codes, my husband's true love burned me to death. She poured rubbing alcohol over the virus samples she accidentally dropped and rendered me unconscious with diethyl ether. Then, she set the lab on fire and burned everything to a crisp. When the agency's other employees led the firefighters to the scene, she cried and claimed I'd stolen the virus samples after colluding with an unknown organization. A month later, an odd and aggressive virus spread throughout the city, leading to countless deaths. My husband, Ethan Carter, denounced and severed ties with me before getting together with his true love. The whole city turned on me, crying for my blood. Everyone said I was a spy from an external power. That changes when three daring high school students accidentally stumble upon the cordoned-off lab. They discover my charred body inside.

Bermula dari jatuhnya ia dalam kolam renang tempatnya biasa berlatih, Andalusia menemukan takdirnya sendiri. Tidak. Bukan di dunia nyata, melainkan di dalam alam bawah sadar buatannya.

When the power meter in the house trips, Mom's foster daughter, Juniper Hawthorne, is trapped in the dark for five minutes. Even though I have claustrophobia, Mom locks me in an empty, pitch-black room. "You knew Juniper was terrified of the dark, yet you intentionally shut off the power just to frighten her! I'll teach you how to behave today!" I cry and beg her not to, but all I receive in return is a harsh slap. "Claustrophobia? That's just what happens when a kid grows up too spoiled." Late that night, I sense someone breaking into the house. The first thing I do is to call Mom, a renowned criminal psychologist, for help, only to be yelled at. "You're still really getting into this role just to fight Juniper for attention, aren't you? "Kidnappers, huh? Well, go ahead and die so you'll stop bothering me!" As she wishes, I'm brutally tortured and killed. My body is buried beneath Mom's favorite flowerbed. After I die, my soul is trapped in the body of a cat. All I can do is helplessly circle Mom until five days have passed. The police arrive with a mangled body and request her help in creating a portrait of the killer.

Catalina Caressa Marisol Ziva, a girl who was abused since a very tender age of six. Going through the trauma she does, it makes it difficult for her to trust anyone and she is terrified of anyone she doesn't know. In one of her torturous days, she comes face to face with her mate. Terrified of the outcomes, combined with the life she led, she does one thing that comes to her mind! She runs! Runs away from her mate and pack and vanishes without a trace! No one knows where she is or how she is, they only know that she is alive! Roscoe Fraser Aurelio Cedar, the Alpha of the Silver Moon pack has always been taught to love, protect and care for his mate. He is taught that a mate is to be treated with atmost respect. He has been searching for his mate for years now. When he comes face to face with his mate and she runs away from him, he is left heartbroken, thinking his mate doesn't want him. Not completely knowing why his mate ran away, he tries to find her but the more the time passes, the more he loses hope. Little did he know that his mate will be before him in the unexpected hour. Catalina has till date regretted her decision of running away from her mate. She searches everywhere she can for him. Will she be able to find him ever? Will he forgive her for running away from him, if she does find him? Will they find love in each other?

A client splashes water in my face. I'm trembling as I endure his insults and mockery while Wayne Gale stands and watches calmly. His arm is around his assistant as he says, "I can't believe you're incapable of handling such a menial task, Georgina. My company doesn't need useless staff!" I wipe the water from my face and down my drink. Then, I fill it again and splash the client back. Whoever wants this job can have it. I quit!

At our wedding, my wife's assistant "accidentally" uploaded the wrong photo. The big screen was supposed to display our wedding portraits. Instead, it was a picture of my wife and him in full wedding attire. Their fingers were laced together, their eyes locked in a soft, intimate gaze, looking every bit like a blissfully happy couple. The entire venue erupted in shocked whispers. The assistant froze in shock, acting like he had no idea why he was in the photo. He started panicking, asking if we should just postpone the ceremony. My wife, however, stayed surprisingly calm. She whispered her solution, “Everyone’s here. Postponing now would be humiliating and, honestly, a bad omen. Beside, most people here don’t even know what the groom looks like. Why don’t we just let him stand in for you?” Our friends were dumbfounded. They all thought I’d explode in anger and jealousy after hearing something so outrageous. Instead, I nodded, saying it was actually a great idea. Seeing how composed I remained, my wife looked pleased with herself. She told me that since we were legally married anyway, she’d make it up to me later with another ceremony. However, she seemed to have forgotten one thing: she had just signed the divorce papers.

Arthia Violette, a Fine Arts student, majoring in Painting, has always been sure that her sole purpose in this life is to become a wife. She would always cry over proposals and wedding scenes in movies or books. She believes in marriage and has always been so fond of marrying in her early 20's. But at 20, she still has the NBSB badge. And just when she had already given up dating and just decided to wait for what we call in God's time, Antonio Nicholas, an Architecture student, suddenly slid through her Instagram DM's. Not only that, he slid into her DM's, but he also turns out to be the son of her father's colleague, and Av being a die-hard fan of destiny, thought that maybe it was her shot at it. It was the start of everything. And finally, at 21, Av got a boyfriend! And at 23, she got married to the man of her dreams. At 24, she had her gallery, art workshop, and art store. She had her first successful major exhibit. She's living the life she has always dreamed of. What could possibly go wrong?

The housekeeper deliberately reveals her busty chest when I'm out of the house. She says coquettishly to my husband, "Oh, my. This is an accident, Mr. Houston …" My husband looks like he's focusing on his drink, but he keeps sneaking looks at her. I see all of this from the housekeeper's livestream.

"I should have killed you the first time I saw you, so I can finally rest. But you're blood is shouting for me to taste it, savor it." Ashley Arevalo lives as a nurse by day and a huntress by night. Ang mga nilalang na sumisipsip ng dugo sa pagsapit ng gabi ang kaniyang tinutugis. When she met Luke Morrison, a handsome young Doctor, who disappears every night, the virginity behind her sexy and daring outfits began rampaging. Sinubukan niyang akitin ito. Ngunit umatras nang malaman niya ang buong pagkatao ng lalaki. Isa itong bampira na kailangan niyang tugisin. Magagawa niya kaya iyon kung maski ito rin ay gusto siyang patayin? Magagawa niya kayang patayin ang napakagandang halimaw na bumihag sa kanyang puso?