Where Everything Was Just Fine

Childfree by choice for five years, Eve Watson’s husband suddenly adopted a pair of twins. He told her to raise the twins as if they were her own. Not only that, but he even planned to leave them his trillion-dollar fortune as heirs. Eve thought her husband had simply changed his mind about staying childfree. Hence, believing he now wanted a family of their own, she went to the hospital, preparing to have her IUD removed so she could get pregnant. However, the doctor’s words shattered her world. As it turns out, she had no uterus. It had been surgically removed five years ago.

It was the fifth year of my engagement to Jake Zimmer. Just as we were preparing to get married, his first love came back. Suddenly, every promise he had made to me meant nothing. Because of her, he began to resent everything I did. That was when I realized I was nothing compared to the woman he truly loved. I was tired, so I let go. I gave them my blessing and walked away from Jake’s life for good. But then, he changed his mind. He came back in tears, begging me not to leave.

Richard, a 49 year old widower with two daughters. Richard had spent his life devoting his time to his girls and to his work. Ava, a 23 year old girl from a countryside with little or no knowledge on how to survive in Bellamy- city of bright lights and dreams and fortunes. These two crossing paths could only be coincidental as they lead different lives with a huge age gap between. But, maybe they were waiting for each other all their lives to fill the gaps. It would take a lot to be together. But how much can one take? An angry girlfriend. A selfish daughter. They'll find out that love is never enough!

On the day of my bonding ceremony with Vincent Sawyer, the future Alpha, the moonstone ring meant for me, the future Luna, has mysteriously disappeared from the ringbox. In its place sits a can tab that has already gone black from oxidation. The guests' cheers die down immediately. They all turn to look at me after that. Amid the silence, Vincent's childhood sweetheart, Sharon Anderson, walks out from the crowd. She raises her left hand and waves, the moonstone ring perched on her ring finger. Then, she pulls out a matching ring before sliding it onto Vincent's finger. "You must be scared out of your wits, huh, Angelica? I'm actually wearing the ring right now. This can tab is no ordinary item, you know. Vincent had given it to me when we were still pups. It resembles everlasting love that will never fade away. Now, I'm giving it to you." Sharon's words strike me right in my heart. I tremble violently, feeling as if my heart is being cut into a million pieces. However, Vincent just chuckles. "Sharon always comes up with silly ideas. She's just joking around, Angelica. Don't take her actions to heart." "Oh, I won't." I toss the can tab into the bonfire, a dry chuckle escaping from my lips. "This bonding ceremony is canceled." Vincent grabs my hand before pulling me into his arms. "Stop messing around, Angelica! We found the ring, didn't we? This bonding alliance will affect the future of our packs! You're not the one calling the shots here!" I squirm out of Vincent's grasp, catching a trace of sickly sweet scent lingering around him—one that isn’t mine at all. "While it's true that the Moonlake pack is going to form a bonding alliance with the Brownstone pack, my future mate isn't necessarily you."

Vera Lee, an introverted yet lonesome bibliophile who writes for a living, meets Jackson Young, her charming yet secretive next door neighbor on an online book auction of Stephen King's The Shining. The two enter into a last minute bidding war making Vera take matters into her own hands by convincing Jackson to give up. Vera's life changes when Jackson starts to make her heart flutter and race as their lives continue to intertwine. But the secrets he keep are holding her back. With the pandemic going on, is it even wise to enter into a relationship? For someone who's been alone her whole life, can she risk her heart in the middle of the pandemic?

I lifted my head from Rhys's arms, his strong chest rising and falling against my cheek. Silk sheets tangled around our naked bodies, the air thick with the scent of our passion. After a passionate night with my childhood friend, the Mafia heir, I was jolted awake at three in the morning by the shrill ring of a phone. It was the Don, ordering me to bring Rhys back to the estate for an arranged marriage. I figured it was just another heiress trying to claw her way into the Griffin family, so I kissed his forehead, pressing myself against him and whispering with a low laugh. "Rhys, what's your plan for this boring princess?" He arched an eyebrow, wrapping a lazy arm around my waist. "Baby, make sure you pick out a good tie for me. I need to make a good impression on my future father-in-law." Seeing me freeze, Rhys sat up and shot me a casual glance, his voice laced with indifference. "Maeve, what's with that reaction? We're just having fun." "You didn't actually think you were going to be the next Donna of the Griffin family, did you?"

Amerta is just a trash and satiation for Alpha Fred's power ego. Their meeting at that night, when Amerta was the only wolf left in the fire of her pack settlement which was brutally slaughtered, turned out to not be the end of Amerta's bad luck. After the death of her family, all members of her pack, even her mate, Amerta lived the life as an useless trash wolf in the Kingdom of Black Moon pack—Alpha Fred's power pack. Until when Alpha Fred realized the Moon Goddes reason sending Amerta from him, Amerta decided to leave him. He lost his wolf powers ahead of the big Red Moon Night war, and Amerta was no longer able to be his Luna. How could he fix the mess of his pack kingdom and bring back Amerta as his luna? When a dark secret known, everything turns out into broken pieces, will their love be repairable?

There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it's time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. Post-infection Chicago. Christmas. Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred. Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore – at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon to be dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse. It won't be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

The train to Centraford was about to depart. That was the ride we'd spent our entire life savings—30 thousand bucks—to get a ticket for. I was gripping my mate, Byron Reynolds's, hand tightly, trying to pull him onto the last train to Centraford. This was the chance I'd waited three long years for. Once we entered Centraford, we could rise from being low-tier civilian werewolves to official Silvren Talons workers—registered, salaried, and numbered. If we missed this train, we'd be stuck forever in Sidersville, a chaotic melting pot, never able to enter the heart of the werewolf city-state. But Byron held us back, refusing to leave without Lisa Peters, who was still down by the river, washing her face. In the very last second before the train took off, I had our friends forcibly drag Byron aboard. We made it to Centraford and became Silvren Talons workers. But Lisa missed her chance. She was left behind in Sidersville and became a rogue, a plaything passed around by countless men. A few years later, she was tortured to death. Byron looked fine on the surface. But on the day of our marking ceremony, he drove a silver blade into my stomach, killing the pup growing inside me, and tore out my heart. His eyes burned red as he growled through clenched teeth, "This is all your fault. You're the reason Lisa never made it to Centraford. "She suffered so much before she died. Why do you get to be happy?" After killing me, he chopped my body up and fed it to the stray dogs. Then I opened my eyes—and found myself right back at the train station, before it departed. This time, I'd wait with him for the woman he loved so much. And I'd make him pay for everything he did to me and my pup.

On the night of the company’s event, under the influence, a chance encounter entwines the lives of Javeira Solace, an ordinary employee, and Leviticus Foster, the company’s CEO. A moment that should’ve faded into the back of their memories instead became a connection that binds them together. Now, would this connection be the start of something real… or the beginning of heartbreak.