Window Shopping Tessa Bailey

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.

On the eve of our engagement ceremony, I noticed that Angelina Manning, my rich girlfriend, wasn't paying attention at all when we were shopping together. I bought a hotdog from a nearby food truck and passed it to Angelina's lips. To my surprise, she tossed it to the ground furiously. "Devon Fuller, my family wants a son-in-law who can carry himself with confidence and poise! Stop buying these cheap things! You'll just end up embarrassing me even more! How can my parents ever accept you if you keep doing things like this?" Feeling rather awkward, I picked up the hotdog and threw it into a nearby trash can. Then, I nodded in response so that I could maintain our four-year relationship. "Okay." I thought that was the end of the outburst, but Angelina decided to get engaged to Jeffrey Terell the next day. "Devon, Jeffrey committed suicide and got admitted into the hospital just so he could be with me. Once he's back to normal, I'll definitely return to you." I still nodded and broke up with Angelina. "Okay." After that, I left. Four years later, Angelina shows up at my residence with the diamond ring she had used to propose to me back then. "Devon, Jeffrey has agreed to file for a divorce from me. We can finally be together again! I told you before that I can return to your side as soon as Jeffrey lets go of his obsession over me and stops hurting himself." I frown at Angelina, who looks all loving and affectionate. At the same time, I mentally curse myself for picking this particular time to come home. After all, I've decided to come back to my cottage just to grab something on a whim, only to bump into my delusional ex-girlfriend. I just push her toward the door. "Excuse me. I don't want to be late picking up my kid from school."

I helped my wife, Kim Carey, rise from obscurity into stardom, only to discover that she was having an affair with a rising young actor who looked like me. When I asked for a divorce, she cried and begged me not to leave. In the end, I caved in. I gave her three chances. The first time, she stayed up all night to post a public statement clarifying all the rumors between her and Emmett Stone. She canceled all her work and stayed with me for an entire week. The second time, on my birthday, she publicly announced that Emmett was her soulmate. She even released intimate photos of the two of them. She buried herself in my arms and said righteously, "Emmett is depressed. I'm only doing this to comfort him. You're the only one in my heart. This is the last time. Please believe me." Then, she abandoned me in the wilderness, just because Emmett had suffered a minor injury on his hand. The final time, my father was critically ill and urgently needed a huge sum of money for surgery. She refused to even transfer a single cent to me. "All the money has been invested in Emmett's new drama," she said coldly. "Your father won't die that quickly." That night, my father missed the best window for treatment and died on the operating table. My heart was completely shattered. When Kim finally returned home late that night, I asked for a divorce once more.

"We can't do this," I whispered, even as Jamie's fingers traced my jaw. "Tell me to stop," he commanded, his grey eyes darkening with desire. I should have. But instead: "I can't." His hand slid beneath my shirt. "This is wrong." "Then stop touching me." "I can't." His voice was raw. "Every night I think about you. About this." When his mouth finally claimed mine, it tasted like sin and salvation. His hands gripped my waist, lifting me onto the counter. I wrapped my legs around him, and reality dissolved. "Right now, you're mine," he growled against my neck. "Even knowing what it costs?" I gasped. "Even then." What happened in that kitchen was unforgivable. Beautiful and terrible and absolutely devastating. But our secret didn't stay buried. When a mysterious text arrives—*"I saw what you did"*—followed by photos taken through my window, I realize someone was watching. Someone knows. And they're not just threatening to tell Aiden. They're playing a twisted game where we're all pieces on the board. As paranoia turns to obsession and obsession bleeds into violence, I face an impossible truth: the person I should fear most might be the one I thought I knew best. **Some secrets refuse to stay buried. Some desires demand everything. And some love stories end in blood.**

Katherine De’Cheney had a life she felt was perfect. She had a job she loved working at the New York Museum as a Conservator. She was engaged to the love of her life. One day she comes home early to find him tangled in their bed sheets with his paralegal. Shattered and broken, she crumbles in hopelessness. In her grieving state she passes out. Opening her eyes she feels transported into another realm. Standing in front of her is her grandmother’s house which stands in front of a looming property that she dare not go near. The “LeFleur” mansion. A place that haunts her dreams. Something continues to call her spirit like a piece of her is locked inside waiting to reclaim her. Suddenly from behind, a Shadow of a man, shrouded in night. He reaches for her hand beckoning her to come. She jerks back and tries to run. “You cannot continue resisting me my dove” he says in silky voice with an old German accent. “Come home to me”. She feels her body relishing in his voice, his touch, and a hidden desire about him she does not know. The more she tries to pull away, the more she feels a pull towards him. Something kept nagging her. ‘What was drawing her back there?’ ‘Who was the sinister looking man she saw in the window as a child before the wolves came from nowhere to attack her. She shuddered, trying not to remember. What darkness was connected to that decaying old house? Why did she feel like something is calling her to return?

Dionne is arranged to be married to Xavier, 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 Xavier's reputation, Dionne doesn't want to fall in love, but soon, she learns that even the coldest hearts have a soft spot, and Xavier'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 Xavier gets quiet. "Dionne." 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. "Dionne?" 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?" Xavier says, obviously still pissed.

I never thought I'd end up severely injured and lose my baby on my wedding day. That day, I walked toward my husband full of excitement, only to watch him rush right past me and straight into the arms of his secretary. Confused, I turned around and saw someone in a wedding dress lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath her. It was his secretary, Quinn Fable. Steve York, my soon-to-be husband, panicked and scooped her up, but Quinn stared at me with tearful eyes, crying, “Summer, I ate the candy you gave me… Why would you want to hurt my baby? Please, Steve, save our child… please…” Steve was beside himself with rage. Without a second thought, he kicked me hard in the stomach. I collapsed into the champagne tower, shards of glass embedding into my skin. Blood poured from between my legs. Yet, they still clung to each other, crying bitterly as if I didn't exist. When the ambulance arrived, they didn't even hesitate to push me aside to save her first. “Forget about her!” Steve shouted. “Save Quinn! She's lost so much blood. She must be in terrible pain! As for Summer, that vicious witch… she deserves to die!” Due to the delay, I suffered a ruptured uterus and missed the window for proper treatment. And as if that wasn't enough, Steve personally announced that our marriage was null and void. He marched straight to the clerk's office with Quinn and made it official. On my ICU bed, I received a text from him. “Pack your things and get out. Quinn wants you out of her sight.”

During the ten years since I was found and brought to my biological family, Sonia Baxter, the girl who took my place, and I have been as close as real sisters. Even Mom says that Sonia cares more about me than a real sister would. I once swore I'd give my life to protect our special family of four. When Sonia is rushed into emergency surgery with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, I am in my office, calmly practicing a basic suturing technique on a surgical simulator. On the screen, the robotic arm threads the needle with such precision that it looks like a work of art. A few minutes later, my boyfriend, Oliver Lyons, slams open the office door and shouts at me, "Amelia Baxter! Sonia's in critical condition. Only your micro-dissection skills can save her! Every expert in the hospital is waiting for you! We've got less than an hour before the window closes!" He looks at me with hopeful eyes. I'm the only person in the country capable of performing a surgery this complex. My hands are even known as the "Hands of God". However, I simply reply with a hum and continue fiddling with the model. Suddenly, my parents rush in. Mom grabs my arm and cries out, "Amelia! That's your sister in there! How could you just stand by and watch her die?" I gently pull away from her and hold my right hand out in front of them. This hand, which had once created countless medical miracles, is now trembling slightly. "Unfortunately, since yesterday, I've been showing symptoms of essential tremor. Dad, Mom… this hand is ruined."

Je suis morte le jour de mon anniversaire, mais ni mes parents ni mon mari ne l'ont remarqué. Ils étaient trop occupés à consacrer toute leur attention à la préparation de l'anniversaire de ma sœur jumelle, Esme Shaw. Pendant qu'elle était entourée de gens qui l'aidaient à choisir une robe, moi, j'ai été ligotée et jetée dans le sous-sol. Avec le peu de force qui me restait, j'ai forcé mes doigts brisés à taper le code 9395. C'était un signal sur lequel mon mari, Edwin Grant, et moi nous étions mis d'accord autrefois. C'était une façon simple d'appeler à l'aide en cas de danger. Je n'aurais jamais pensé que j'en aurais réellement besoin un jour. Mais quand je l'ai envoyé, il ne m'a pas crue. Sa réponse était froide « Claudia, simplement parce que je ne t'ai pas emmenée faire du shopping pour une nouvelle robe, tu as décidé de faire ton cinéma ? Tu peux encore porter la robe de l'année dernière. Arrête de faire des histoires. On se voit tout à l'heure à la fête. » Ce qu'il ne savait pas, c'est qu'Esme avait déjà déchiré cette robe en morceaux. Et ce qu'il ne pouvait pas imaginer, c'est qu'à l'instant même où il a raccroché, j'étais déjà morte. Ainsi, quand la célébration a commencé, je ne suis jamais apparue. Mais lorsque tout le monde a vu le cadeau d'anniversaire que j'avais préparé à l'avance pour Esme, toute la salle a perdu la tête.

The seer foretells that I will mate with an Alpha and give birth to the strongest heir. Because of this, I am arranged to be mates with the Alpha heir, Chad Gibson, since I was a child. And from then on, I am groomed to become a Luna. I devote my entire youth to bleeding, fighting, and enduring it all. Every smile, every step, and every breath is for the sole purpose of becoming the perfect Luna. And yet, what do I receive in the end? On the day of the marking ceremony, Chad carries in an expecting Rogue with Omega bloodline, Yelena Lockhart. He then publicly declares that during a hunt, he accidentally consumed a lustbane and bred with Yelena. Thus, he must take responsibility and make her his future Luna. Seeing the unshakable resolve on his face, I ask in a trembling voice, "What about me? What am I supposed to do?" Without a moment's hesitation, he replies, "Tessa, because of that false prophecy, you have stolen the future Luna's place and enjoyed privileges that were never yours for long enough. Now, you must step aside. "But don't worry, I won't cast you out. As long as you keep serving Yelena as her maid in atonement, you may still stay by my side." The world falls into dead silence, and the stares of the pack weigh on me like a mountain. I neither scream nor beg. Instead, I simply remove my veil and return the ring that symbolizes the future Luna. Later, when Yelena gives birth, the pup turns out to be of Omega bloodline. Only then does Chad realize the prophecy is true, that I alone can bear the Alpha heir destined to lead. But when Chad finally regrets everything and begs me to come back, it is already too late. I have already accepted the Alpha King's proposal and no longer belong to Chad.