Window Beyond Window

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

"Lyra, please trust me. I am here for you". His voice echoed in my ears. I trust you. I wanted to tell him but it felt like I no longer could talk. He came near the place I was standing and I did not move. I wanted to hug him and make him believe that I wanted him more than I wanted myself. He pulled me closer to him and engulfed me in his chest and I knew I couldn't hold back. My tears wetted his Armani suit while his constant love made me realise how selfish I had become. ~~~~ Lyra had grown up locked by a bad-tempered man. He made sure to make her believe that she is nothing but a worthless human. She plans her escape. After she escaped, she met a handsome and rich savior and became attached to him. But she soon found the truth was beyond her imagination when he told her that she is Lyra Walton, the long lost hidden daughter of the world's first richest family, a girl who was declared dead at five. Lorenzo Rothschild, CEO of Schilds industries, a billionaire renowned for his cruelty in the business circles, saved an innocent girl just because he needed her to make a deal. Never did he foresee that she would be the love of his life. Would Lyra choose to trust Lorenzo? Would they defeat all difficulties and come closer? Read and find out.

Flynn Roberts -A billionaire, handsome beyond expectations but arrogant and cold. Elisa Evans -A beautiful orphan and Baker who's goal was shattered after being deceived and lied. Years later, she comes back to America, now a billionaire, with a secret, Flynn's daughter to get her revenge on him.

She started her new life with a heart full of hopes and lots of dreams to be fulfilled by her life partner, but got to know later that he will be the one who shatters them with a snap of his fingers. But she still held onto the last string hoping beyond hope until a fateful day. She thinks everything has ended in her life. Then she meets a person who has the same story to tell her and also with similar feelings. Then their lives collide, but with their conscience. Maybe every END has really a NEW BEGINNING…

After her father's heart attack, Munachi Alice Rowland needs to stop being the spoiled rich kid in order to assume the position of the director in his gallery. What she isn't prepared for is finding out how bad the state of the gallery's finances are. Now Muna must find a potential investor to get the company back on its feet and pay off their debts. Grant Stevens, Muna's former school mate who made high school hell for her has returned to the city, richer, more powerful than ever and also hot as sin. When Muna finds out that Grant is the CEO of the company her father owes millions of dollars to, she is beyond shocked. Things get worse when she discovers the agreement her father signed with Grant's company. Muna has no choice, other than agreeing to Grant's every wish, which might just entail marriage with him. Muna is very sure it is yet another strategy to torment her, just like he always did nine years earlier. She is supposed to hate Grant, but how can she explain the constant attraction she feels instead whenever he's close? With his flirtatious smile and advances, can she be able to guard her heart and get married to her enemy for two years without catching feelings? As they say, there's a thin line between love and hatred, could Muna's nemesis have some stronger feelings for her after all?

Ken spent a fortune on our wedding. But on our wedding night, he left me to take care of his crush, Jenny Johnson, who was struggling with severe depression. I grabbed a chainsaw, took down her door, and demanded a divorce. Jenny's eyes were swollen from crying. "I'll leave Ken alone, back to you. My life isn't as important as your happiness—" Ken, distressed beyond words, warned me, "Mayson White, listen to me. If Jenny ends up taking her own life because of you, you'll pay with yours." Later, he caught me cheating with his best friend. With red eyes, he pleaded, "Mayson, break up with him. I can pretend none of this happened. Let's just be together." "No way," I said. "He'll threaten to end his life if he never sees me. You're such a good guy and wouldn't want to force him to go through with it, would you?"

As the son of Lucifer and Lilith, Fallon was cursed to live without a soul. Knowing that happiness was not for him; he was content with helping the weak. Bree is just a normal girl, living in a normal world. She never expected that there was anything beyond her human existence. That is until a tall, dark, supernatural male walks into her life and reveals that she’s the key to ending the world. What's a girl to do when the fate of the world is in her hands? What's a cursed male to do when his mission is to protect the most tempting woman in the world?

Lillias, the last living heir of the ancient Scottish wolf royalty, has spent her life under the shadow of duty and tradition. Her lineage carries not only power but also a curse: a prophecy that foretells her bloodline’s eventual downfall if she fails to fulfill her role. But her heart yearns for freedom, and her wolf spirit aches for a mate. When she crosses paths with Alpha Silas—an enigmatic, battle-scarred leader of a powerful rogue pack—their connection is instant and undeniable. But Silas carries his own burdens. His pack was cursed by the Sun God, leaving him haunted by guilt, loss, and a destiny he can’t escape. Bound together by the pull of the Moon Goddess’s will, Lillias and Silas soon realize their fates are interwoven far beyond the bond of mates. They must uncover the secrets of an ancient feud between the Moon Goddess and the Sun God, whose divine quarrels threaten to tear apart not only their union but the very fabric of their world. As old prophecies resurface and enemies emerge from the shadows, Lillias and Silas must decide: will they defy the gods for their love, or will they be pawns in a celestial game they can never hope to win?

Sarita has always been a good daughter. The straight A's student and quite possibly going to be the class valedictorian on her graduation day. Like every other girl, she began to notice boys when she was fifteen and one boy in particular caught her fancy; Rajveer Chaturvedi. He is the co-captain of the school's basketball team The Panthers but he has never noticed her because he has his eyes on Divya Malhotra, head cheerleader who also happens to be his girlfriend. But Divya has her eyes on Vikrant Suryavanshi, the captain of the basketball team and Raj's best friend. Sarita loses all hope of ever getting Raj's attention but by a twist of fate, she becomes friends with Vikrant whom she'd heard of and seen a couple of times in school but had never spoken to due to the animosity between him and her best friend Kalyani who happens to be his cousin. Feelings grow between the unlikely pair and a long term friendship is broken when Divya's lies are revealed to Raj and Vikrant is painted the bad guy by his friend who swore to get his revenge. Vikrant's and Sarita's relationship is put to the test when she becomes pregnant due to a situation that was beyond their control and she is forced to choose between her family and the father of her baby when a young man shows up, claiming to be her betrothed.

When I hear my boyfriend, Terence Bowen, is trapped in a house fire, I immediately rush back to save him. However, after dragging him out with all my strength, I realize it's just a dummy. Laughter erupts from the house next door. "Ariana Brock is such a fool! She fell for it again!" Through a half-open window, I spot Terence lounging on the couch, casually scrolling through his phone. He looks completely fine. "That's the 47th prank we've pulled on her. Three more to go and we're done." "Serves her right. She shouldn't have stolen Bethany Howard's scholarship. Bethany is the one Terence actually cares about. That's why he decided to fake a relationship with Ariana to get revenge 50 times over. Too bad the game will end soon." I bend over, gasping for air. All this time, the relationship I've worked so hard to protect is nothing but a game to them.