Pale Fire

"Do you want me to touch you?" And that was how the walls I had created in my heart started to crumble, one by one. "Please touch me!" Did she even know what she was saying! "You are playing with fire little miss." "Then let it burn me!" ******* Betrayed on her anniversary, former Luna Soraya walks in on her husband and best friend in her own bed. Shattered and thrown aside, she falls into the arms of a powerful stranger, only to wake up bound to him by a marriage contract she drunkenly signed. When that stranger reveals himself as Alpha-King Damon Sterling, her ex-husband’s stepfather, the real war begins. Their alliance starts with raw passion, a dangerous fire meant only for revenge… but it quickly unravels secrets neither of them saw coming. A buried truth from the past rises, forcing them to face the reality that they were never just each other’s bed-bullyings, they were fate colliding. Together, they plot a ruthless revenge that will tear apart lies, topple power, and expose the darkest secret of all: Elara’s child isn’t Dorian’s. And Soraya?

Richard Franklin has left his Midwestern roots behind to live on the coast of Maine with his family. But in the autumn of the year 2000, he must return to his Illinois birthplace on a sorrowful journey. His wife Michelle has been killed in New England by a hit-and-run driver who is never found, so back home he comes with her cremated remains, to fulfill a final wish and on her birthday scatter her ashes in the park along the river in Blackwater Valley—simply Blackwater Val to locals—the small town where they both grew up and fell in love. With him he brings his six-year-old daughter Katie who still grieves for her lost mother: Katie, who can sometimes guess who’s going to be on the phone before it rings. Who can stop all the clocks in the house, and break up clouds in the sky with her mind, and heal sicknesses, and who sometimes sees things that aren’t there...people who are no longer alive. All gifts she inherited from her mother. Only something isn’t quite right in the Val. Sinkholes are opening up, revealing the plague pits the sleepy hamlet was built over in the 1830s, when malaria and cholera outbreaks ran riot. Mysterious bird and fish die-offs begin to occur, and Katie can see ghosts of the dead gathering all around. But what she can’t see is the charred, centuries-old malevolence which has been waiting for her, and wants her for its very own. Or the pale Sallow Man who haunts the town’s nighttime streets...or the river witch—another Blackwater Val, of sorts—each of whom will be drawn one by one into the nightmarish bloodletting about to take place. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

"Dr. Shaw! Ms. Sherwood has suffered a massive hemorrhage due to complications from childbirth! She has fallen into a coma and needs an emergency blood transfusion!" "Dr. Shaw! Ms. Lunsford is vomiting from anemia! She needs a blood transfusion immediately!" "Dr. Shaw! The blood bank just declared an emergency! We only have enough blood to save one of the patients right now!" Eugene Shaw stares broodingly at the pale and motionless Lilian Sherwood. Slowly, his hands clench into fists. "Stop all treatment for Ms. Sherwood! Have all the remaining blood in the blood bank transfused to Aurelie!" Lilian curls up in pain. Her mind is blank, but she hangs on to Eugene's every word. She hears him choose Aurelie Lunsford. Her pupils suddenly dilate as the doctor next to her sobs anxiously. "But Dr. Shaw, Ms. Sherwood's condition is more critical than Ms. Lunsford's! She should be your priority, especially since she's carrying your child!" Eugene turns, eyes slightly bloodshot, "She's a medical professional! Saving lives is her duty. I believe she would've made the same choice." Lilian is in disbelief. Tears spill from her eyes, bitter and mocking. Eugene makes his selfishness sound so noble. She regrets everything. If given another chance, she will definitely leave him at all costs! She draws her last despairing breath, and her hand droops limply. Eugene kneels before her hospital bed in panic, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Lilian. I have no choice but to save her!"

While studying abroad, I move into a shared apartment. Not a single day goes by without my housemate, Stuart Harper, calling himself some variation of a sweet, brave, and responsible guy. On the very first day he moves in, he hires workers to take out the insulation from the walls. I confront him about it, but he simply grins at me and proudly boasts about his decision. "That was all just some shoddy foam that the construction workers padded the walls with. Not only was it useless, but it was even taking up so much space. The fact that I forked out my own money to get rid of it proves that I'm such a sweet and responsible guy!" With a scowl on my face, I explain to Stuart the purpose of having proper insulation. He immediately leans in close with an admiring gaze. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea! I just wanted to do something nice for us. What should I do now? You have to help me think of something!" I naively assume Stuart just lacks common sense and doesn't act with malice. Thus, I willingly enter into a cycle of always cleaning up after his messes. One day, I get a fever. He ends up buying a secondhand electric slow cooker and declares he's going to take care of me by cooking me soup. My head throbs as I quickly put a stop to his attempt to heat the electric slow cooker on the induction stove. I tell him to let me catch a nap before I teach him how to cook later. But not long after I fall asleep, he secretly sticks the electric slow cooker into the microwave to heat it up. The microwave explodes. As the flames start to spread, Stuart screams and dashes out of the apartment at once. The fire alarm wakes me up. I try to evacuate the burning building, only to find that Stuart has locked the door from the outside. In the end, the fire burns me to a crisp. After that, however, he starts twisting things around. He goes online and says with a helpless expression, "My housemate set the apartment on fire while cooking. I'm the one who had to call the fire department on his behalf, and I even had to compensate the landlord for him. I'm definitely the sweetest, bravest, and most responsible guy to ever live!" As the online community proceeds to condemn me, Stuart uses the attention and publicity to go viral as a content creator. Some time later, my eyes open again. This time, I'm going to roast him good.

When Elara Santos walks in on her long-time boyfriend tangled in the arms of her best friend, her world shatters in one night. Heartbroken but determined, she flees to Manila to rebuild her life and prove she doesn’t need anyone to survive. Enter Adrian Velasco—the ruthless, impossibly magnetic CEO of a leading architecture firm. Cold, untouchable, and dangerous to fall for, he’s the last man Elara wants in her life. Yet fate keeps pulling them together. Every clash between them burns with friction. Every accidental touch lingers. Every glance dares her to surrender. But their growing passion hides darker truths. Adrian’s past is entangled with the betrayal Elara ran from, and lurking in the shadows is Cassandra Ramirez—a beautiful, venomous woman determined to destroy Elara and claim Adrian for herself. As secrets unravel and desires ignite, Elara must decide: Will she guard her heart and walk away, or risk everything for a love that could consume her? In a world of betrayal, ambition, and forbidden passion, one thing is certain—when fire meets fire, someone is bound to get burned.

They called it forbidden. Dangerous. A love that should never exist. I thought death was the end. I thought being beaten, broken, and buried would free me from the pain of my past. But fate… had other plans. I woke up in her body. A princess everyone despised. A life I never asked for. To atone for a sin I didn’t commit, left to carry the weight of a crown, a family, and a love that wasn’t mine. Then I saw him. My soon-to-be husband. The king who despises me with a hatred so sharp, it cuts deeper than any whip ever could. Three days. That’s all he gave me—to vanish, to stop existing. But within those three days, in the shadows of his rage, something else stirred. A desire just as forbidden as the love I was once murdered for. One that threatens to consume us both, that lingers like fire under our skin, that promises trembles neither of us can resist — and might destroy us entirely. Three days. One body. Two hearts at war with fire, hatred, and an impossible, intoxicating craving. Will I survive… or is another brutal death waiting?

"Why are you angry?" I asked him. "It's not like we're a couple." He stopped, and stared at me, boring my eyes with his emerald eyes. "If we are…" He paused, clenching his jaw, "then am I allowed to be angry?” I looked at him like he was insane. “Then we'll take it to that level." He continued. "I'm serious. I want you.” Leizel Snow Garcia Waterstrings is not just fierce. She's more than that. Ending up as an ice cream worker in a local ice cream shop, it was her one step of becoming a strong and independent woman. And that's when a cold-hearted stranger came in view. Eion Aurelio Hudson. Out of seven billion people in the world, the two hard-headed people crossed paths, making her "strong and independent woman" facade slowly fall apart. With all the dramas, free food, forgotten birthdays, Robot handling, idiots around, and emotional crisis, will she be able to melt his winter heart with her blazing fire or will this fire be put away instantly? ``` ``` One Blazing Head. One Winter Heart. Two Hard-headed people. A huge disaster. (Book 1 of Hearts Series but can be read as standalone)

Rejected. Burned. Left for dead. Thalia was nothing more than an omega in the shadows—until Catastrophy strikes their park and kills her mother. They label her as cursed and reduce her to a slave. The first daughter of the Alpha king. Her mated Alpha whom she loved publicly rejected her and chose her sister as his Luna. Her father ordered Thalia’s execution by death in the flames. They thought the fire would consume her. But the fire doesn’t kill a phoenix. It awakens her. Now, Thalia has returned—reborn with power no pack has ever seen, cloaked in mystery, chosen by the moon goddess and bound to a darkness that answers only to her. She’s not back for love. She’s back for vengeance, revenge. But when fate ties her to the Lycan prince with secrets of his own, she is armed with power and authority. She could choose to go solo and destroy everything in her path as she returns to Greenwood Park for revenge or she could give herself to this new found burning desire that could destroy her. Thalia is here to stay and no mated Alpha can take what rightfully belongs to her. Not when the moon goddess has not ordained it.

Two different people Different ideology Two different world He’s Devil…. She’s an Angel She’s Innocent….He’s nothing but innocent She’s Water….He’s Fire She’s Sweet…. He’s Arrogant She’s Life…. He’s Death It’s a story of Devil who meets his Angle, how she became his world… Does Devil deserve Angel?

Lia Reyes, 26, was an assistant to difficult CEO Ivor Mitchell. Her job was to find and take care of Ivor's mistresses. She had always done an excellent job. But she always kept one secret from Ivor, that she was in love with him, because Ivor would fire any employee who had romantic feelings for him. Would Lia be able to keep her secret forever? If Ivor found out, what would he do?