Quiet Study Space

When I got reborn into my youthful years, I turned down the marriage proposal of Seth Klein, the future major general. Instead, I chose to be with Nathan Prescott, who lived a poor life. My mother thought I was possessed. After all, the entire village knew that I, the village chief's daughter, used to follow the well-educated Mr. Klein around all the time. Apparently, I was willing to do anything just to marry him. I soon recalled what happened in my previous life. After I married Seth, we never consummated our marriage. He even brought back a child, claiming that said child belonged to a fellow soldier who had passed on in the war. I viewed the child as my own and made an effort to raise him. It wasn't until our fiftieth anniversary that I discovered a secret after barging into Seth's study, which had always been forbidden to me. It turned out that the study was plastered with photos of my older cousin, Catherine Parker—the most beautiful woman in the village. The thing was, she had been dead for a long time. The truth was, Seth has always been capable of performing in bed. He was merely practicing abstinence because of Catherine. Furious, I collapsed and was admitted to the hospital. But my son, whom I treated as my own, was the one who unplugged my life support with his own hands. "If it weren't for you taking over my mom's position as the actual wife, she wouldn't have died as an unknown mistress!" After my death, I witnessed Seth getting a joint burial with Catherine as husband and wife. As for my ashes, they were randomly scattered into a dried-up river. Now that I was reborn, I chose to fulfill their wish!

“Hayden, don’t.” I said. My legs wouldn’t stop trembling as he started to come forward. I shook my head as my tears started to roll down my cheeks and the way he looked at me sent chills down my spine. “Please.” He put his palm on the wall as he moved closer to me and caged me in his strong arms, leaving me no space to escape. “Serena!” he spoke, bringing his lips close to my ear. Everything of his was intimidating including his hoarse voice. After all, he was the devil himself. "Hayden…” I couldn’t take proper breaths as his fingers started to stroke my cheek. He clenched his jaw as he brought his finger close to my lips and his eyes darkened. The next thing he said scared me to the core. “I don’t understand if I should kiss you or KILL YOU.” ______ Serena's life was never exciting, and she never wanted it to be exciting. However, things don't go same when she meets a handsome stranger, who is filled with lies and secrets and his world is filled with guns and knives.

When love is shared but not equally given, how much pain can a heart endure? Andrea Velasco thought she had the perfect marriage—devoted husband, beautiful home, and a quiet life built on trust. But her world shatters when a single message exposes a truth she never imagined: her husband, Gabriel Reyes, is not just hers. He's also married to Celina Dela Cruz, a younger woman in a different city who believes she is the only Mrs. Reyes. As Andrea and Celina’s lives collide, secrets unravel and tempers rise. But amidst the betrayal lies a deeper question: Who truly owns the right to love, to forgiveness, and to walk away?

A journey of the unknown, of the great mysteries of the son of an exiled young master. "Hate You to Love" is a story that explores the complex nature of love and the emotions that come with it. And a journey of how Jon discovered the mystery behind his parent's misfortune. Are they dead or alive? Can he discover his hidden identity and his mythical strength or is he gonna remain human for the rest of his life? Can Rose and Jon be together again or is this the end of their beautiful love life...??????

Raúl is a rising footballer who dreams of seeing his name make a name for himself with Spain's biggest club and national team. Tattooed, seductive, true to his feelings and hopelessly in love with Alana, who sees him only as a friend. Alana is a journalism student, has two dreams in her life, to be a writer and to win over Dani, her stepfather's son, who sees her only as his younger sister. Raúl wants to conquer Alana, and within the four lines of football, the function of a defender is to mark the attackers and defend the goalkeeper's area, but to reach the heart of the woman he loves, he will have to make a close marking, and something that defenders do not, go on the attack and reach the goal. Raúl will put Alana's feelings for Dani to the test, breaking down the solid defense she created, in addition to making her emotions and her body vibrate with every touch, or word spoken, especially when he calls her “Mi Cariño”. Their relationship begins after a lot of 0-0, a lot of seduction on the part of Raúl, but in addition to gradually conquering his space in Real Desportivo de Madrid, he also conquers once and for all the heart of Alana, who finds herself hopelessly in love with defender, but afraid that he will discover his secret, and everything goes very well between them until Raúl is summoned to compete in the World Cup, a lot changes, problems arise, and people from the past reappear to disturb the couple. A love as hot as the nights in Madrid, and enveloping as a good tactic in a football match, it remains to be seen what will get in the way of this couple, and how does this game?

"Ms. Rowe, are you certain you want to delete all identity records? Once they're erased, you'll be completely removed from the system. No one will be able to find you again." Eva Rowe pauses for a moment before nodding with quiet resolve. "Yes. I want to disappear from this world. I want to make sure no one can ever find me." Two seconds of silence follow on the other end, as if they're giving her one last chance to reconsider. "Understood, Ms. Rowe. The wipeout protocol will be completed within 14 days. By then, you'll be officially 'dead' in all databases. Please make the necessary arrangements." With that, the call ends. Eva books a one-way ticket to Felnor, scheduled for 14 days later. Then, she turns off her phone, watching as the screen goes dark. She stands by the floor-to-ceiling window, staring out at the endless city lights, and lets out a soft, cold laugh. She is no longer anyone's Eva.

Ezmira Franchild was adopted at the age of eleven. No one knew where this silent little girl originated from, all they knew was that she was found under an old broken-down bridge, curled up into a ball and trembling with fear. It took her an entire year before she began to speak again but once she did, she never spoke of where she came from or who her parents were... she simply clutched to the dirty old bag that she was found with and never allowed anyone to search it or take it from her. Years later, Ezmira is still a quiet child, living in a small town with her sister, Liza Franchild and trying to make the best of her life. Little did she know that her past was not something she could run from or ignore. Once a witch, forever a witch. “I'm afraid to live. I'm afraid to let people in again because I'd never know when they'd leave. My existence is a curse.” ~Ezmira “I've been cursed for many years, but you're the first curse that I've ever willingly accepted. If you're afraid just hold onto me, we can face our fears together.” ~Axil Book 1 of the Divinity Series.

Herbie was subconsciously self-sabotaging his relationship with every famous, beautiful, successful girl he's been with. When the relationship seemed to be going well, he'd find one little detail that would be enough reason to break-up. It could be that she's too clingy or too busy, to the trivial ones like having long fingernails or having eyes that are too big or too small. That's because in that tiny little space in his heart he kept a secret. He's got this huge crush on his next-door neighbor for what seems like forever. For ten years they were neighbors, for ten years he was content just stealing glances. Not that he didn't know her. She's his ex-girlfriend's sister! On their tenth year as neighbors, he got elected as President and CEO of a multinational corporation at only 36 years old. He didn't want to move apartments but duty called.

Tunnels deconstructs the individual’s Romantic fascination with ‘love’ or the grammaticality of beauty. Ideally, the ‘tunnels’ in the collection are subterranean love poems from the suburban imaginary. These seemingly syntactic tunnels travel through one’s literary imagination or heterotopic dreamscapes, and while αγάπη (Greek for ‘love’) inspires these rhizomic tunnels to navigate the abysmal ‘meta-spectacle’ of gesture, language or moment of poemness, the mind like the many-colored jeepneys of Manila, where driving past roast goose restaurants in Shek Kip Mei or spotting stilt houses in Kampong Kleang, attempt to explore the transgeneric textualities of the everyday, alongside the unstructurality of time and space, the littoral and the liminal.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing