Window-shopping

Kyla is arranged to be married to Vixen, a powerful mafia boss with an unbroken reputation. To the outside world, he's cold, hard, ruthless, and merciless. She's kind, tender-hearted, beautiful, and caring. Given Vixen's reputation, Kyla doesn't want to fall in love, but soon, she learns that even the coldest hearts have a soft spot, and Vixen's just might be her. And although she doesn't like to admit it, hers might be him. Will they ever find love, or will this be a loveless marriage after all? ------- He raises his fist and I could swear I made a whimpering sound. I turn away and I look at the window as Vixen gets quiet. "Kyla." he says, his cold, hard mask still intact. I look at him, not saying anything, and he shifts in his seat, well aware of why I reacted that way. "Who did it?" he asks. I look down at my hands and I don't reply. "Was it those assholes at the university?" he asks, genuinely concerned. "Kyla?" he says, his fingers brushing against my arm. I jump at his contact and suddenly a tear falls from my eyes. "God." he says as I begin to cry. I can tell he's not used to emotion.... "How was your first day sweetheart?" she asks sincerely. "A couple of frats tried getting in her panties in broad daylight and everyone around was gonna let it happen. How's that sound?" Vixen says, obviously still pissed.

"Synopsis: Lisora Sandoval never expected to cross paths with Real Monteverde, the enigmatic billionaire heir to one of the country's most powerful families. But one fateful night, a passionate encounter leads to an unexpected proposal: a secret marriage that promises her a life filled with luxury and influence. In exchange for her silence, Lisora finds herself bound to Real, becoming the powerful Mrs. Monteverde. As she navigates her new life among the elite, she soon realizes that being married to a man with so many secrets isn’t as glamorous as it seems. From extravagant shopping sprees to surprising confrontations, Lisora’s new life is anything but ordinary. Yet with every playful misstep, she discovers more about the man she’s bound to—for better or worse. Can she keep up the facade of the perfect wife? Or will their marriage, built on secrecy and power, eventually unravel? "Hubby, I slapped the Movie Queen Bea Alonzo today, was I too much?" "Baby, does your hand hurt? Let me rub it for you." "Hubby, I maxed out your credit card, are you angry?" "Baby, are you happy with your purchase? Let me know when you need more." "Hubby, I’m tired today, I don’t want to move…" In a world where love and power collide, will their hidden vows be enough to keep them together, or will the truth tear them apart? ---

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*

Suzan, 11, is trick-or-treating with her friends when Simon dares them to visit the haunted witch’s cabin. Although she’s scared, Suzan refuses to go with them and heads home. Later, she learns from her friends that after they knocked on the door, a window shattered, and they ran in fear. Later, Suzan returns home, only to be comforted by her mom after losing her candy. At home, Suzan is comforted by her mom after losing her candy. However, strange whispers and scratching sounds soon disturb her. When her brother Luke checks, he reassures her, but the noises return, and Suzan spots glowing eyes in her closet. The figure grabs her by the hair, draining her life force before dragging her out the window, leaving her family helpless.

The train arrived with a screech of metal on metal, and subconsciously I boarded and found a seat and gazed out the window as if somehow, the tunnel walls rushing by was the only thing that could grant my wish. "I wish you could see me," I whispered the deep words, picturing his face as I spoke. "Like really see me. I wish you could love me just the way I love you." Closing my eyes, I began to feel the weight of the unshed tears behind my eyelids. But just before I brushed them off I murmured again. "Just once, I want to know what it would be like if you truly loved me back." With a final sigh, I wiped the tears fighting to breakfree. Little did I know, some wishes come at a terrible price. When Asher Smith's boyfriend, supermodel Xander Fauler, wakes from a car accident with amnesia, their cold relationship transforms into something passionaate and real. For six blissful months, Asher experiences the love he always craved—until Xander's memories return, along with his icy demeanor. What was once six month's of undeniable love and pleasure just as he had always wanted, slowly turned into a nightmare that he had dreaded so much for the longest time. Amidst the uncertainty of his spot in his love life, Asher began to notice some odd changes in Xander, making him question if their relationship was ever real. As he tries to get a grip of his love life he uncovers a dangerous obsession lurking in Xander's inner circle and a traumatic secret from his past, putting him no way further from his recent doubt, now Asher must decide: walk away from heartbreak or fight for a love trapped beneath scars?

"Don't dream of belonging to anyone else. Your breath, your heartbeat, your body - they are mine, and I will take you by force, no matter what. I am Asher Martin, and I will make you my Luna." Tears streamed down Sage Holton's face as her life and circumstances changed in an instant, turning to ashes as Asher came to claim her by force and make her his forever. --- There was a beautiful scent clinging to me, like marmalade, roses, and honeyed strawberries. I didn’t know why, but suddenly my wolf spoke, saying, "Mate." I responded in shock, "Mate!" Of course, I nearly went mad. I am an Alpha Gamma with hybrid blood, and that little girl is of pure lineage. Even though I don't accept the laws of the Moon Goddess, I know that one of her laws is that mates must be of the same pure lineage, though it is possible to marry and love someone from another lineage. I kept pacing around, and then I remembered—I had thrown her out, naked! I looked out the window at the sky; it was raining heavily, it was late, and I had cast her out. I shouldn't have gone near her, but what happened, happened.

"I can help you destroy them both, if you let me." Scarlett's perfect -well, almost perfect- life shatters when she catches her husband with another woman—on the same day she discovers she's finally pregnant after three years of trying. But when his mistress pushes her through a window fifteen stories high, it's her husband's bitter business rival who catches her fall. Dominic Blackwood offers a cold proposition: marry him and gain the resources to destroy the man who betrayed her. It's a business arrangement—revenge wrapped in a wedding ring. No love. No pretense. Just mutual benefit. But as Scarlett navigates her new marriage of convenience with the enigmatic billionaire who saved her life, she discovers that the line between vengeance and desire blurs dangerously with each passing day. When her heart begins to betray her plans for revenge, will Scarlett discover that falling for her devil's bargain is the most dangerous fall of all?

I should have been walking down the aisle. Instead, I was running through the woods in my wedding dress. The white fabric caught on every branch, tearing apart like my life. My name is Camela Siegel. My father is the Mayor, and he sold me to save himself. Vincent Castellano was supposed to be my husband. They call him the Mad Prince, but I learned he’s so much worse than that. His hands trembled when he touched me—sometimes gentle, like I might break, and sometimes rough, like he wanted to overpower me. “You’re mine now,” he’d whisper in the dark corners of that house. “No one else gets to touch you. No one else gets to hurt you but me.” I tried the door handle every day for three months. It only turned from the outside. When help finally came, I thought it was over. I thought I could go home and pretend none of it ever happened. I was wrong. Vincent found my journal—the one where I wrote about him, about what he did to me, and about who he truly is. Now he’s not just keeping me locked up. He’s hunting me. They call him “The Fox” for a reason. He’s patient and waits. When he catches what he’s after, he never lets it go. I can feel him watching me even now—through my bedroom window, from across the street, in the shadows where I can’t see him but I know he’s there. My father thinks making that deal saved his life. He doesn’t realize it destroyed mine. Vincent said he’d keep me until the last day of my life. I’m starting to think that day is coming soon.

Sage Casey Ember-Brooks, who goes by Casey, is a fast-food worker and aspiring fantasy novelist whose ordinary life crumbles when mysterious strangers ask cryptic questions about her dragon series. Her recurring dreams of golden coins suddenly make terrifying sense when Marcus Chen—a businessman with eyes that flash gold—reveals that dragons are real, living hidden among humans for centuries. Casey's unnaturally accurate fantasy writing stems from awakening genetic memories. She's a rare "Convergence" bloodline capable of harmonising opposing elemental forces. The revelation comes at a critical time: a new cryptocurrency called DragonCoin, featuring symbols identical to her dreams, creates magical interference that weakens concealment spells protecting dragon society. At the Crossroads shopping complex where she works, disruptions cause dragons to flicker between human and true forms in full view of witnesses. Caught between Marcus (a traditionalist who wants to hide her with the Dragon Council) and the enigmatic Xaihuang (who advocates ending the masquerade entirely), Casey discovers an underground chamber housing ancient dragon artifacts. When she touches a magical coin, visions reveal three futures: chaotic revelation leading to war, continued concealment resulting in magical extinction, or a mysterious third path of integration. Casey realises DragonCoin wasn't created to expose dragons, but by another awakening hybrid like herself—someone in Seattle whose unconscious dragon heritage channels ancient power through modern technology. As magical concealment fails worldwide and dragons begin manifesting publicly, Casey must race across the country to find this unknown programmer before the interference between magic and technology tears reality apart. The story explores themes of identity, integration versus assimilation, and the collision between ancient power and digital-age innovation. With her awakening abilities growing stronger and the masquerade crumbling around her, Casey faces a choice that will determine her fate and the future relationship between the hidden magical world and human civilisation.

The sun hit my face through the window as I woke up, and reality crashed in—I lost my virginity to a stranger. My mind spun back to last night, to what I overheard outside the VIP lounge. My boyfriend’s voice, Liam’s laugh, Maya’s mocking tone—burned into me. “I can’t believe she actually thinks you’d date her. Such an ugly duckling thinking she could be a princess,” Maya sneered. And Liam… the man I gave five years of my life to… laughed with her. “When I’m tired of playing, I’ll let you know. I love this game, even if it’s taken so long.” Two years chasing him, five years dating him—just a stupid game. My love was never love to him. One drink. One dizzy stumble back to my hotel room. One man who felt both familiar and like a stranger. And one night that changed everything. Now, I don’t know his face. But I can’t forget the way it felt.