Liquid Five Pawns

Five years ago, when my boyfriend's small company was on the brink of bankruptcy I stepped in to save him, quietly supporting him from the shadows. Without revealing my identity, I became the company’s largest shareholder. Five years later, the night before his company was set to go public, he held me in his arms and said, "Emma, after the company goes public tomorrow, don’t leave. I have a surprise for you." At that moment, I was swept away by the idea of his "surprise," my mind racing with the hopeful thought that he might propose. I didn’t notice the cold glint of malice lurking in his eyes. The next day, as his company went public, he slapped me across the face and sneered, "Do you even see what kind of person you are? Did you really think someone like you could marry me?" He grabbed me by the hair and dragged both me and my best friend in front of a crowd of thugs and beggars he’d gathered. “These worthless cast-offs aren’t good enough for me anymore. Consider them my gift to you. Do whatever you like with them!”

She married Cassian Rourke for money. She left him for love—the love he never gave her. Five years of a contract marriage. Five years of hoping proximity would turn into something real. But on their anniversary, when Lyra finally gathered the courage to confess her feelings, she overheard him confessing his to someone else. So she signed the divorce papers, packed her bags, and disappeared with the secret growing inside her. Two years later, she has built a new life. A quiet house. A beautiful daughter with platinum blonde hair and slate-blue eyes. Peace. Until she rents out her spare room to a tattooed grad student with a familiar last name. Luca Rourke. Cassian's half-brother. The family black sheep. And the only person standing between Lyra and the custody battle Cassian is threatening the moment he discovers Eleanor exists. His solution? Marriage. A fake one, of course. But the Rourke family doesn't play fair. And Luca's hiding secrets of his own, secrets that could destroy everything Lyra's fought to protect. Sometimes the greatest danger isn't falling for the wrong brother. It's falling for the right one.

I loved my foster brother, Cayden, for five years—five years of hiding, lying, and choking on the shame that came with every kiss, every touch, every lie. I should have hated myself for it, but I loved him too much for that to matter. I thought we had a future, until his first love, the one who had once shattered him, returned without warning. Suddenly, I was nothing more than a dirty secret. While he smiled at his engagement party, I was lying in a hospital bed, waiting for death, worn down by my heart condition and his cold neglect. I was as good as gone. Until Miles, who would later become my fiancé, saved me. A year later, I came back—with a loving fiancé, a healthy body, and a new life. Cayden seemed broken by my “death,” but all I felt was bitter irony. We were foster siblings, never meant to be together. He was just a mistake from my past, a mistake I swore I’d never repeat. But life didn’t turn out as smooth as I imagined. Miles carried secrets, and Cayden… he wasn’t ready to let me go.

Warning: Mature themes. 18+ “Sorry, Aria. Serena is back.” That was the night Alpha Kael shattered our mate bond and chose the woman he believed had once saved his life. He never knew the truth. I was the one who dragged him out of the snow. And I was already carrying his heir. So I let him think I died. Five years later, I returned—not as the abandoned Luna— but as a Lycan Queen. Powerful. Untouchable. Ruthless. Kael fell to his knees the moment he saw me. But I didn’t come back for revenge. Because something ancient beneath our territory has begun to breathe. The mountain is waking. And my son—the heir Kael never knew existed—is at the center of it. He isn’t just an Alpha’s child. He is an anchor. A living regulator the ancient core is trying to claim. Now the pack that cast me out must face a choice: Protect the child they rejected— or watch their world collapse. I spent five years trying to keep my son small enough to survive. Tonight, the world will learn what it costs to underestimate a mother. And this time— I am not breaking. I am rewriting the rules.

“Why are you doing this? I have done everything you asked me to do. Please, Clara, let it go.” Xavier pleaded. Clara stared at him and slowly let out a chuckle. “You mean nothing to me, you have never meant something and you never will. I don't love you and I never will.” “My words. Do they ring a bell?” She asked with a smile as she stared at him. His eyes were clouded with tears. “Clara… “ “Five years ago you said those words to me, now I am saying them back to you. I won't stop Xavier, not until the Blackwell’s Empire falls!” ~ Being in a loveless marriage for two years was something Clara got used to. Despite it being loveless, it was going great until her husband’s first love returned out of the blue and was carrying his child. The next minute, Clara was signing divorce papers. Not only was she divorced, she was humiliated by her husband and his family. Clara left the city and returned five years later with twins, she returned as a billionaire. Now, it was her ex-husband’s turn to chase her.…

Five years of silence. Five years of being the "Luna" in name only, while Logan Blackwood treated me like a ghost haunting his halls. I thought my devotion would eventually thaw his frozen heart. I was wrong. When his first love returns, the man I call husband doesn't hesitate. He doesn't offer a "thank you" for the years of service or a "sorry" for the wasted youth.  He offers a pen and a rejection. "You were never the one, Giuliana. You were just the one who was there." Left broken and discarded, I vanished. But the Moon Goddess has a sense of irony. Two years later, I’ve found a new pack, a new life, and a second-chance mate who treats me like a queen. Ryan is everything Logan wasn't: protective, obsessed, and loyal. But now Logan is back, and he’s decided he made a mistake. He’s cold, he’s ruthless, and he doesn’t care that I’ve moved on. He wants his wife back. But he’s about to find out that a rejected heart doesn't just beat again—it strikes back.

Left at the altar by her fiancé, film industry beauty Christine Ledesma, also known as Cassandra Mendez rebuilt her shattered life. Just when she thought she had finally gotten over him and turned over a whole new leaf, Marty Jacobs the infamous playboy billionaire showed up again to reclaim her. "Mommy, you're back." The little girl sweetly said. Marty came in and walked towards the living room. He put down Christine on the couch. The little girl was delighted to see Christine carried by Marty. The little girl held Marty's hand, looked up to him and spoke, "Mommy, is he my daddy?" The little girl's eyes were twinkling like the stars in the sky. Memories of five years ago came flooding her mind. Christine couldn't utter a word, for she was overwhelmed by the memories of five years ago. The little girl concluded that her mom's silence meant yes, the little girl spoke to Marty "Daddy, did you come back to take us with you?" Baffled, Marty couldn't speak and looked at Christine. Christine had regained her composure and said, "Cassie, sweetie, he is mommy's business partner."

Once the unwanted foster daughter of the Sawyer family, Briella endured chains, cruelty, and a betrayal that nearly cost her life. Everyone thinks she’s long gone. But five years later, she returns as Skye—an elite designer, a mother of twins, and the silent force behind a storm that’s about to break. She’s not here to forgive. She’s here to expose lies, ruin reputations, and make every last one of them pay.

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Ashton Grey tried to get over his ex-girlfriend, Layla Jones that left him five years ago. While Ashley White tried to forget her boyfriend of five years that broke up with her and was about to marry her nemesis in a week. Fated to meet at a bar, the two ended up having a one night stand. The next day, Ashton offered Ashley to marry him in an attempt to move on from his ex, and Ashley accepted his proposal to take revenge on her ex-boyfriend. However, their happy marriage went downhill when Layla suddenly returned and demanded Ashton's love again. Ashton ended up feeling confused and didn't know who he should choose between the two. But the universe made a choice for him. Ashley was taken away from Ashton in such a horrible way and he almost went insane, blaming himself for what happened to her. Years later, he finally decided to move on and be with Layla. But a woman who was a perfect resemble of Ashley appeared in his life. Everything was similar except for one, her name. She was Astrid Young. Could Ashton somehow resist the temptation of Astrid when she behaved exactly like how he remembered Ashley?