Vim And Vigor Hours Novels & Stories

On the night of my sister’s engagement party, my life officially crashes. Again. All because of one name on the invitation. Zachary de Sanctis. My sister’s fiancé. Fiona. My ex, the guy I punched in the face five years ago. Heir to the richest old-money family in Europe. And one tiny detail only God and I know: he’s the father of my twins. For the past five years, I’ve been hiding out in a little town in Oregon, working as the CEO of a IT firm while chasing two four-year-olds who look more like their father than me. Isaac and Isabella: two mini De Sanctis clones with the last name Gómez, razor-sharp mouths, brains that run too fast, and a talent for causing trouble exactly when I need peace. My family knows I came home pregnant and alone. They just never asked who the father is, and I never offered an answer. As far as they’re concerned, I’m still Arabella Gómez, the wild one who lost her way. I thought going to Fiona’s engagement party would just mean a few hours of fake laughing, then a quiet drive back to my glass-walled house in Oregon and two sets of blue eyes calling me Mommy. Until Zach walks into my parents’ living room holding Fiona’s hand… and his gaze stays on my face a little too long. He can’t find out about Isaac and Isabella. Fiona can’t find out her perfect fiancé was mine first. And my family can’t know what really happened five years ago. Hiding a scandal between two rich dynasties is one thing. Hiding two chaotic twins who are basically their father’s face copy-pasted? That’s the real nightmare.

Maria Walker has spent her entire life under the weight of expectations in a world where reputation trumps happiness. As the daughter of the respected Walker family, every choice—including her relationship with kind, loyal Noah Bennett—is judged by high society, who see him as far beneath her standing. Daniel Rothfield faces a different pressure. The powerful, emotionally guarded CEO of Rothfield Holdings has avoided relationships since a devastating breakup left him unwilling to risk love again. Yet his parents and business partners insist a man of his status needs to project stability—and a serious relationship is the perfect image. When Maria and Daniel unexpectedly arrive together at a prestigious charity auction, a fleeting moment ignites rampant speculation. Within hours, social media explodes with rumors that the billionaire CEO and the Walker heiress are secretly dating. Rather than deny it, Daniel proposes a solution: pretend the rumors are true. A fake relationship solves both dilemmas. Maria’s parents would stop pressuring her about Noah, while Daniel’s family and associates would see him finally settling down. It’s meant to be simple, temporary, and strictly controlled. Rules are set: No real feelings. No crossing boundaries. No forgetting it’s just an act. But pretending to be in love proves far more complicated than planned. As they appear together at events, family gatherings, and public functions, undeniable chemistry emerges—shifting from performance to something dangerously authentic. Meanwhile, Noah grapples with quiet jealousy fueled by headlines and photos, Daniel’s past resurfaces to threaten the facade, and their carefully built lie begins to crumble. In a society that measures love by status and appearances, Maria and Daniel face an undeniable truth: the relationship they pretended to have may be the most real thing either of them has ever felt.

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

The doctor told me I had 72 hours left, unless I got access to the newest experimental treatment. However, there was only one slot available, and my husband Bowen Liddell gave it to my sister Yvonne Lawson instead. "Her kidney failure is more critical," he said. I nodded and swallowed the white pills that would only speed up my death. In the time I had left, I got a lot done. The lawyer's hand trembled as he passed me the documents. "Are you sure you want to transfer the two billion dollars in shares?" I replied, "Yes. Give them to Yvonne." My daughter, Candice Liddell, was giggling in Yvonne's arms. "Mommy Yvonne bought me a new dress!" I said, "It looks beautiful. Make sure you always listen to Mommy Yvonne, okay?" The art gallery I built from the ground up now had Yvonne's name on the sign. "You're too kind, Kathy," she said, crying. I told her, "You'll run it even better than I ever did." I even signed all my parents' trust fund away. That was when Bowen finally gave me his first genuine smile in years. "Kathleen, you've changed. You're not so aggressive anymore... You're beautiful like this." Indeed. This dying version of me finally became the 'perfect Kathleen Sullivan' in their eyes—obedient, generous, and no longer argumentative. The 72-hour countdown had already begun, and I couldn't help but wonder what they would remember when my heart stopped for good. The good wife who 'finally learned to let go', or the woman who completed her revenge by dying?

At Manatee high, where wealth whispers through the marble halls and last names open doors, Emma Carter stands out for all the wrong reasons. She’s there on a scholarship — smart, quiet, and completely out of place among the designer uniforms and polished smiles. Her father works long hours as a construction worker, and her mother’s absence still echoes through every choice she makes. All Emma wants is to survive senior year unnoticed. Connor Hayes Charming, confident, and born into old money, he moves through school like he owns it — because, in a way, he does. But behind the perfect image lies someone quietly restless, bored of the shallow routines and expectations his family forces on him. When a class project throws Emma and Connor together, their worlds collide. What starts as polite conversation turns into stolen glances, late-night talks, and moments that make Emma question everything she’s been taught about people like him. For the first time, Connor finds someone who doesn’t care about his last name — someone who sees him. But no everyone is happy about it ,The whispers start. And soon, Emma isn’t sure if she’s part of Connor’s world — or just an experiment in rebellion. As emotions deepen, the line between love and heartbreak blurs. Emma learns that privilege comes with its own cages, and Connor realizes that sincerity can’t be bought. Together, they must decide whether what they have can survive the pressure of judgment, jealousy, and fear — or if love alone isn’t enough to bridge two very different worlds. “Emma and Connor” is a coming-of-age romance about class, courage, and finding where you belong — even when the world tells you that you don’t.

He was a man made of sins. She was the one mistake he couldn’t undo. Luca Romano — the ruthless Don of the Romano crime family — has lived in the shadows for years, drowning in blood, money, and women. But beneath the armor of power lies a ghost he can’t escape: Serena, the girl who once saved his broken soul before vanishing without a trace. Decades later, when Luca sees her again in a supermarket — the same eyes, the same delicate face — he loses control. Within hours, she’s in his mansion, locked away, his lost angel finally returned to him. But she isn’t Serena. She’s Sienna, Serena’s twin sister — the one thrown away, forgotten, and left to survive the streets. Unlike her gentle twin, Sienna bites back. She curses him, fights him, and makes him question the monster he’s become. “You think you own me, Don?” she spits. “No, dolcezza,” he murmurs, pressing his thumb against her jaw. “I think I finally found the one woman who could destroy me.” What begins as a twisted act of obsession turns into a war between them — a battle of wills, lust, and long-buried secrets. Because the more Luca learns about the woman he’s captured, the more he realizes: He might have stolen the wrong twin, but he’s finally met his match. And when the real Serena returns — sweet, innocent, and hiding a darkness he never imagined — Luca will discover the cruelest truth of all: The angel he adored was a lie… and the devil he stole might be the only one who can save him. “I thought you were my redemption,” he says. “No,” she whispers. “I’m your reckoning.”

Katherine Heart has been in love with Damon Rhodes for three years, which would not be a problem if Damon was not her ridiculously handsome best friend who keeps acting like her boyfriend without ever actually calling her his girlfriend. One minute he is kissing her breathless, telling her she is the only girl who truly understands him, and the next minute he is dodging every conversation about commitment with that stupid charming smile of his that should honestly be illegal. But when Damon drags Katherine to a luxury ring shop, she is convinced this is finally it. Until she realises it's not her. Humiliated, heartbroken, and determined to never let Damon see her cry again, Katherine throws herself into her internship at Rhodes Enterprises, where long hours and impossible workloads are easier to survive than watching the man she loves fall for someone else. There is only one problem. Nathaniel Rhodes, Damon’s older brother. Cold, terrifyingly powerful, and completely off-limits, Nathaniel is the kind of man who can silence an entire boardroom with one glance alone, yet for some reason, his icy eyes keep following Katherine everywhere she goes. And when one late night at the office leads Katherine to discover a side of Nathaniel nobody has ever seen before, his cock in his hands as he helplessly moans her name, her messy heartbreak suddenly turns into something far more dangerous. Now trapped between the boy who broke her heart and the man who could completely ruin her, Katherine is about to learn that love triangles are a lot messier when billionaires, jealousy, office scandals, and unresolved tension are involved. Because falling for one Rhode's brother was already a disaster. Falling for both of them? Absolutely catastrophic.

My name is Mia, and I am the middle child of Don and Donna Costa. I am also the black sheep of the family. Or the ugly duckling, as my mother would call me. My shift ended a few hours ago, but it takes me long to get home as I do not have a car like my brother, Leonardo, the oldest, or my sister, Amara, the beautiful one and youngest in the family. As you may gather from my story so far, my parents do not care about me. I walk into the house with a sigh. I have seen the cars in front of our home, and I know my family has friends over. "You have nothing I want! You stole from us, and today I will kill your whole family," I hear an angry voice. I wonder what my father has done this time to piss someone off. "Godfather, give me another chance. You can have my beautiful daughter as your wife," My father begs. Holy shit! My father stole from the godfather? I know the godfather is about thirty, and his name is Riccardo Marina. The Marina family is the most powerful in the American mafia. "I do not like blond blue-eyed sluts. I prefer women with dark hair. Besides, Everyone in town knows Amara Costa! She has been around the block," Riccardo says with disgust. I do not know what to do. Shall I hide? Not many people know my parents have another daughter. I am never invited to their parties as my family is ashamed of me. I do not care for my family, and they can die for all I care. "I have another daughter with dark hair. Maybe you will fancy her," My father begs again. I sigh. Typical!

My CEO wife has a habit of rewarding top-performing employees with a private dinner. After seven years of being secretly married to her, I finally pushed myself to the limit—working around the clock for an entire month, nearly coughing up blood—just to land the number-one spot and finally earn that public dinner date with my own wife. But Alexia gave the spot to an intern instead. "Caleb just joined the team. He needs some motivation and encouragement. As my husband, you need to be understanding. Next time, if you close over ten million in sales, I'll definitely give you the spot—and I'll even throw in a diamond wedding ring worth a million." For the sake of the company and our marriage, I let it slide. Then I closed a ten-million-dollar deal and showed up at the restaurant we'd agreed on. She never came. No calls, no texts. I was about to head back to the office to find her when I saw Caleb's post on social media: a candlelit dinner with my wife, and on his ring finger—the very ring she'd promised me. His caption read: [Family keeps asking when I'm getting married? Don't worry—my girlfriend, the CEO, showed up with a ring to save the day.] Coworkers flooded the comments with excitement. I calmly left a comment of my own. My wife, who had been MIA for six hours, immediately called me in a panic. "Don't get the wrong idea! It was just a dare—he lost a game, that's all. You're still my husband. I just loaned him the ring for a minute. Once the game's over, I'll get it right back to you." But I don't want the ring or her anymore. "Don't bother. Let's get a divorce."

Alyssa Lambert, the only daughter of the world's wealthiest family, falls in love with Justin Fuller, a poor man whose company went bankrupt and is burdened with billions in debt. In the third year of concealing her identity to stay by his side, Justin finally pays off all his debts, starts a new company, and makes his debut on the Nova Exchange. As Alyssa watches his confident figure on stage, she thinks it's time to reveal her true identity. When she arrives outside the private room booked for the celebratory banquet, she happens to overhear the lively chatter inside. "Justin, Alyssa has faithfully stayed by your side for three years and was even willing to live in a basement with you. Now that you've paid off your debts and the company is publicly listed, isn't it time to propose to her?" "Yeah! When the company was just starting up, and you had no money to hire people, Alyssa practically split herself into three and only slept four hours a day. She even took the initiative with every difficult deal. Where else would you be able to find such a great girlfriend? You'd better marry her soon!" Alyssa's hand freezes on the doorknob, and she feels a wave of unease creep over her. She had hinted about marriage before, but each time, Justin dodged the question by saying he still couldn't provide her with a good life. Now that the company went public, would he… finally bring up the topic of marriage? "I haven't forgotten the kindness Aly has shown me these past three years. I also believed she was the one for me, but…" Justin leans back on the couch with a glowing cigarette between his fingers. Everyone's gaze is fixed on him, while outside the door, Alyssa feels her heart skip a beat. "Claudia is back."