50 Shades Darker

My insanely wealthy parents always tell me that they came from a poor background. As their children, my siblings and I mustn't waste our lives away on fun and games. They set up a trial for me by requesting that I submit an application in advance for all expenses that are over 50 cents. On the day I'm supposed to take my SATs, it's raining heavily outside. Since my exam venue is located 18 miles away from home, I decide to submit an application for a 100-dollar Uber fee. But my dad slaps me in return. "We used to scale over mountains just to get to school back in the day! Don't think you get to enjoy the perks of transportation just because we have money!" After that, he empties my pockets before kicking me out of the house. I end up all sprawled on the muddy ground while feeling raindrops pelting on me relentlessly. When I finally reach the exam venue on foot, I notice the news being played on the huge screen across the street. It turns out that my parents and William Gentry, my older brother, have spent ten million dollars on a popular band to celebrate my adopted sister, Selene Gentry, earning a passing grade on her math test. Apparently, passing her math test is her trial.

I bought a million-dollar set of gold as my bridal accessories at the jewelry store. The wedding date was fast approaching, but the pieces still had not arrived. I personally went to the store to pick it up, but the sales assistant said the price of gold had increased, and I had to make up the price difference. “In the past two weeks, the price of gold has risen by $98 per gram. Since you purchased 1,314 grams, the price difference amounts to $128,772, which rounds up to $130,000.” She showed the number on the calculator to me, and I became speechless. “Two weeks ago, I already paid the full payment. You said the store provides the delivery service, so I did not take it with me. This is a scam!” The sales assistant looked at me with a scornful expression. “We’ve been in business for ten years, and we do honest deals only. Keep running your mouth off, and I swear I’ll sue you for defamation!” What she said had reminded me that the ten-year lease contract that I signed with them had expired. I immediately took out my phone and called her boss. “From this year onward, the rental cost will increase by 50%. If you can’t afford the rental cost, move out immediately!” “Why?” I sneered and said, “You’ll have to ask your staff then!”

My father loved silence. He believed noise was the mark of lesser people, so he installed a decibel meter in our home. Speaking above 40 decibels meant that we would have to pay him 10 dollars, laughing above 60 decibels meant 50 dollars, and crying or throwing a tantrum was a serious offense at 100 dollars per second. The year I turned four, I fell and broke my arm. I did not make a single sound. I bit down so hard that I cracked two teeth, but I saved thousands in noise fees. He praised me for it and called me a "high-value child," one that was worth the investment. I treasured that compliment and observed the rules carefully, keeping the house wrapped in suffocating silence. Then came the stormy night a thief broke in. He had a knife and was creeping toward my mother as she slept, and I watched it all from the gap in the wardrobe where I was hiding. I wanted to scream. I wanted to shriek and wake my father, to do something, anything. However, my eyes drifted to the decibel meter on the wall, and my hand found nothing but an empty pocket. I did not have enough allowance. One scream would cost hundreds, and I simply could not afford it.

On the night Victoria’s family lost everything, she signed a contract marriage with the coldest and most brutal CEO in the city—Adrian Vale, the man rumored to be behind her father’s downfall. Bound by a one-year agreement, Victoria enters a world of power, secrets, and emotional warfare. What she doesn’t know is that Adrian has his own reasons for marrying her—and that the truth behind her family’s ruin is far darker than she imagined. As hatred turns into forbidden desire, Victoria must decide: will she expose the man she married… or fall for him instead?

For years, Raven survived the Gonzales crime family’s control. But just as her debt nears its end, she’s forced into marriage with Marcus Gonzales—their dangerous, magnetic heir. Marcus breaks rules, rivals, and women. But he doesn’t want Raven broken. He wants her consumed. When a long-buried secret tied to her father’s death resurfaces, Raven becomes the key to a war between syndicates. And as Marcus’s obsession turns to something darker than love, she must decide if she’ll run from the monster… or rule beside him.

In a war-torn world, Noura is desperate to escape the clutches of a dangerous warlord who wants to force her to marry him. Her only hope lies in Khalid, a man driven by a promise to protect her to her father. But as they journey across dangerous lands, Noura begins to question everything she knows about loyalty, trust, and the man who saved her. With every step, the lines blur between protector and captor, and Noura must face the terrifying truth about Khalid's obsession—and her own feelings. Will she find freedom, or will she be trapped in a bond darker than the war she's fleeing?

On the night she’s supposed to become Luna, Seraphine is murdered by her mate, not because he hates her, but because a prophecy forces him to. She dies thinking he rejected her. But the Moon Goddess gives her a rebirth into the body of a witch, the most feared species by wolves. Now she returns to the pack hidden in a new body unknown to her former mate and she’s carrying a forbidden power she never had before. She has one mission: Expose why she was truly killed… and why her mate cried while stabbing her. But every truth she uncovers leads to a darker twist.

Nora's life takes a profound twist as she tragically loses her husband, indirectly, to her closest confidante. Devastated by the revelation that her dearest friend had betrayed her by sleeping with her husband, Nora finds herself facing an unexpected challenge—the friend is now pregnant. Compelled to dissolve her marriage, Nora embarks on a journey of revenge, determined to unleash her wildest tactics. However, what if her plan fails? Could it lead her to a darker abyss, ensnaring her even further? What lies ahead for her former spouse? The outcome remains uncertain, holding the key to Nora's fate.

Bill is a nobody, a health inspector who’s not above taking a few dollars to overlook a restaurant’s mouse problem, and hated by nearly everyone except his long-suffering girlfriend. His nephew, Trent, isn’t much better: sexually and morally confused, he’s probably the worst teenage con artist on the East Coast. But today, these two losers harbor a sentient parasite with a sarcastic sense of humor and a ravenous appetite. As the parasite figures out how to control its new human hosts, the focus of its desires grows from delicious cheeseburgers and beer to something much darker and more dangerous.©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Rachel has just started her junior year of high school and already wants a do-over. She decides to transfer to Pacific High, the rival school she started with. Rachel is looking for a high school experience unlike the 'typical' Lifetime-esque one, and she ends up finding much more than she anticipated. Pacific seems to be a school with endless possibilities, and unfortunately some of these are darker than anyone expect. Juggling her feelings for two love interests, Rachel must navigate life with a total creep with a disturbing obsession for her, a mysterious stalker, magic users and werewolves in a human world, alongside restless nights plagued by nightmares.