Where Hello Kitty Came From

During a game of truth or dare, my boyfriend, Ryan Patel, chose to kiss his childhood friend, Michelle Woods, for three minutes to save her from a penalty. When I found out, I was furious. I called him in tears, confronting him about the unbearable intimacy between them. He remained silent for a long time before speaking coldly, "Are you done crying?" Then, he drove Michelle home. I crouched in the rain, watching couples huddle under umbrellas, and from that moment on, I never contacted Ryan again. Three months later, at an auction, I bought a men's wristwatch. When Ryan heard about it, he chuckled. "Forget it. In three days, I'll go and coax her back myself. She just needs a way out." His friends all sent me messages, congratulating me on how well I had him wrapped around my finger. I didn’t reply to any of them. I simply posted a picture in my feed—my newly issued marriage certificate.

She gave him one month. He thought it was greed. He had no idea it was goodbye. Annabella Hills has been invisible her whole life—raised as a charity case, scorned by her mother-in-law, and forced into a loveless marriage with Alpha Antonio Greenwood to honor his late father's dying wish. For years, she's endured cold indifference from the husband who sees her as nothing more than an obligation, while the pack whispers that she's not worthy of the Luna title she's never been allowed to claim. When Antonio announces he's finally found his fated mate, Annabella knows her time is up. But instead of stepping aside quietly, she makes one final request: one month. One month where Antonio must treat her as his true wife, his true Luna, before they perform the rejection ritual at the Moon Rite. Antonio thinks she's desperately clinging to a title she never deserved. His mother thinks she's a shameless homewrecker standing between true mates. Even Christiana sees her as nothing more than an obstacle to be removed. None of them know the truth. Annabella isn't fighting for a marriage—she's fighting for a chance at the one thing she's never had. As the only surviving heir of the Ancient Wolf Clan, hunted since childhood and hidden in plain sight, she's spent her entire life unloved and alone. Now, with her heat approaching and time running out, she wants one precious thing before she disappears forever: a child to love, and to be loved by in return. But as the month unfolds and Antonio begins seeing his wife for the first time realizes he's been blind to the treasure he's had all along.

Ivory Stone has tried and failed to seduce her stoic steward 999 times. She thinks that maybe Wilson Quill doesn't have a heart. Maybe he won't ever fall in love with anyone. But one day, she catches him pleasuring himself with a bracelet belonging to the fake heiress who stole her life.

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

"Listen, I'm tired of this marriage. We only got married because I needed a wife to secure my CEO position, and now that it's settled, you're not useful to me anymore." My husband, Dale, said to my face, nothing close to guilt flashing in his expression. And that was when I knew... I really was nothing to him. With tears in my eyes, I signed the divorce papers and left. Left his house. Left his family. Left his life. But not without a promise to myself. A promise that no matter what, I would come back. I would come back stronger. The nobody they see me as, will come back as somebody. Somebody they'd all need. ....... Chloe Dave thought life loved her when she got married to Dale Beldson, the hottest man on earth and her long crush. That was proven wrong, when what was supposed to be a happy marriage, turned to a depressing one, with a husband that rarely acknowledged her existence. Still, she held on to the hope that if he'd chosen to marry her, there'd be something in there. Some emotions in there. That died the moment his bestfriend, Nora framed her for laundry and attempted murder, and he chose to believe Nora over her. Even after all her pleas, he still refused to give heed to her. He saw her as a nobody. His family saw her as one. That was when Chloe vowed to come back and shock the world. Shock Dale Beldson, her ex-husband.

It was an arranged marriage. She tried her best to please him and make him love her! But what's his problem?!. He's ruthless, arrogant, powerful and even cruel! When he brought home an elegant lady and married her, his action forced his arranged-marriage wife to sign the divorce papers in tears and run away from him. Unfortunately, when his arranged-marriage wife left, she got into an accident and lost almost all her memories!, She left the country and returned 5 years later as a powerful lady– admired by all! But, why was this possessive and powerful CEO chasing after her– and saying nonsense like; “Stop pretending not to know me, Vivianne!”. She doesn't know him, so, what's his problem?!.

In the fifth year after migrating to a new country, my wife, Nyra Sinclair, brings her first love, Jacob Griffin, and his daughter, Zoe Griffin, home with her. "Jacob and Zoe are new to this country, so they shall be staying with us for the time being." I get into a huge fight over this matter with Nyra. On my birthday, Nyra hands me a divorce agreement. She urges, "Hurry up and sign it. Jacob needs a green card. We'll have to go through a fake divorce first." With a frown on my face, I try to pry for more details from Nyra, only to get accused that I don't have any sympathy for Jacob at all. A short while later, I see Jacob's latest post on Instagram. "Nyra is getting a divorce for my and Zoe's sake! We finally have a place to call home!" I just leave a like there quietly. After leaving my signature on the divorce agreement, I lodge a request to my company so that I can fly back to my home country, Myrthia.

She was reborn soft, sweet, and touched — surrounded by women who never learned to let go. Evangeline “Eva” Claire Maxwell — Lioré was once a brilliant, overworked woman from a cold, futuristic world. When exhaustion finally claimed her, she didn’t expect to wake up as a baby in the arms of luxury — a second chance in a modern world where time moved slower, kisses came warmer, and desire wore velvet gloves. In a world without magic, desire is its own spell. And love? It’s the most dangerous kind of possession.

​"I bought you for three years, Spring. That means for 1,095 days, your body, your soul, and your very breath belong to me." ​To the world, Spring Willow is the luckiest woman alive—married to the legendary billionaire August Harrington. To August, she is nothing but a shadow of the woman he lost, a scapegoat for a tragedy she didn’t cause. ​The terms of their "marriage" are written in blood and cold hard cash: -​$300,000 a month for her grandmother’s life. ​One hundred rules she must never break. And most important ​rules of all: Never expect his heart. ​Spring expected the coldness. She expected the cruelty. But she didn't expect August’s hatred to morph into a suffocating, dangerous obsession that refuses to let her go; even after the contract ends. ​Just as Spring prepares to break under his weight, a new shadow emerges. Another power player, equally ruthless and twice as determined, offers her a way out. ​The contract was signed in pain, but the ending will be written in fire. When revenge turns to possessiveness, who will Spring choose: The man who owns her, or the man who wants to steal her away?

In order to save Alpha Varkon Stormclaw, who was poisoned with wolfsbane, I've used my life force to trade for the antidote with the witch. After the transaction, I become unusually weak. My wolf sinks into a deep slumber as well. Because of that, the elders have cast me out of the Moon Goddess Church. Nyla Ironcrest, the newly-appointed Luna, locks me up in a silver cage that's filled with wolfsbane. "How could a lowly and filthy defective she-wolf like you be a good match for the prestigious Alpha?" Varkon, who has once loved me with all his heart, gets tricked by Nyla into thinking that she's his savior. Not only does he sever our mate bond from me, but he also turns a deaf ear on my pleas for help. Defeated and devastated, I breathe my last breath in the silver cage. However, Varkon kneels before my corpse later on. He's struck with so much pain in the chest that he goes crazy. At the same time, he keeps spitting out blood. But I can never hear his confession of atonement ever again.