You Don't Know What Is Like

I've been married to the prince of the underworld for ten years and have endured countless life-or-death situations by his side. My hands, once trained to play the piano, are covered in calluses from holding guns and stained with blood. But at 28, my husband ends up falling for a young woman from the slums. She's as delicate and pure as a chamomile. She's his well-kept little secret—until I run into them at the woman's prenatal appointment one day. I storm up to him, demanding an explanation, only for him to nonchalantly hand me divorce papers. "Sonia is a devout follower of the church and can't have a child before marriage. I must make an honest woman out of her. Sign these, and you'll get 40% of the company's shares." I refuse to do as told, so he corners me. In the end, he has my crippled younger brother tied up and forced under a hydraulic compression machine. "Sign the papers, Maeve, or watch your brother become a human mince pie. The choice is yours." I fall on my knees and beg him to stop. As the machine turns on, my hands fly to my aching lower belly, and I scream as I lose consciousness. When I wake up again, I'm back in the hospital, in the same spot where I ran into my husband and his mistress at her prenatal appointment. This time, I don't confront him. Overnight, I make arrangements with a sanatorium abroad, get divorced, and run away from home. Yet the moment I truly disappear, my husband loses his mind.

My roommate had a peculiar knack for pestering everyone into liking her posts on social media, all so she could collect enough likes to claim some prize or another. It was her way of life—nagging, nudging, and guilting us into clicking that little thumbs-up. One time, the campus beauty queen liked my roommate's ad for a facial mask. Not long after, she was in a horrific car accident. The vehicle caught fire, and her face suffered severe burns, leaving her disfigured beyond recognition. Meanwhile, my roommate seemed to undergo a miraculous transformation, her complexion turning porcelain fair and flawless as though she'd been kissed by the heavens. Then there was the academic prodigy, a shoe-in for graduate school, who liked her tutoring service post. Shortly after, he was exposed for academic fraud, and his once-brilliant reputation was reduced to ashes. Strangely enough, my roommate's research paper suddenly won an award, catapulting her to fame and fortune. And me? I fell into her trap too. I liked her rental agency ad, and before I knew it, my world crumbled. A scandal erupted, revealing that I was the result of a mix-up at birth. It turned out she was the long-lost child of wealth and privilege—a hidden gem cast into the rough, now reclaimed by her rightful family. As for me, I was packed off to the countryside village she had escaped from and forced into a brutal marriage with an old man. My life became a living hell, and eventually, I died there, broken and forgotten. But fate wasn't done with me yet. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day my roommate begged me to like her post in exchange for yet another prize.

Daddy brought me to Aunt Jenny’s party. As I was eating a piece of cake, I tasted a cherry between the layers and hurriedly spat it out. Once, I broke out in rashes after eating a cherry and nearly died, so I was deeply traumatized by that flavor even as a young child. However, Aunt Jenny looked heartbroken. “I hid a cherry in the cake as a little surprise, just like it’s good luck to get a bay leaf in a pie. How could you be so rude, Kenny?” Daddy did not even let me explain. He chased me out in the yard and made me stand there as punishment. Mommy said it had been more than a hundred degrees out lately, so she told me to stay home and not go out to play. Now I knew just how hot 104 degrees could be! My body was all itchy, too. I was finding it hard to breathe. I wanted to ask Daddy to forgive me, but he refused to open the door no matter how hard I knocked. He glanced at me coldly through the floor-to-ceiling window. He was not going to let me back in.

After being reborn, I tear up my school withdrawal form. I no longer wish to become a househusband just for Eliza Stewart's sake. She messages me when she hears the news, but I blacklist her number right away. She camps outside my house to confront me, so my family and I move to a new place immediately. Eventually, she compromises by asking me to join her in Northcrest for college. That way, I can still take care of her. I go behind her back and apply to be an education major at Southwell University instead. In my previous life, she dedicated herself to everything and everyone else, except for me. This time around, I just want us to go on our separate paths and never meet again. A few years later, I set off for the rural region of Westridge to volunteer as a teacher. Eliza, who is also volunteering there, sees me. Her eyes start turning red. She grabs my hand and refuses to let go. "Don't run off this time, Matthew…"

Based on the untrue writings of the Satanic Panic. The Satanic Panic was a moral outcry in the United States over supposed “satanic” influence in media that were warping the youth of America. Claims that playing an elf in Dungeons and Dragons could lead to demonic possession, that playing heavy metal music backwards would reveal satanic messages, and that therapists could uncover repressed memories of satanic ritual abuse, were all too common. Volumes and volumes of material were produced on this fake subject. These texts lead to What Hell May Come, which takes a look at what the world would actually be like if all of the claims of the satanic panic were true. Set in 1986, Jon St. Fond’s life is a living Hell. Deliberately abused and neglected by his parents, the only joy he has in life is an escape into a fantasy land of role playing games. Soon he discovers that his parents are part of a secret occult religion with hidden ties all across the world. As Jon and his friends dig, they learn more of the secret history of the world and discover the power of making deals with creatures from Beyond. However, power has its price, as Jon and his friends quickly discover. One-by-one they begin to become consumed by their own desires and hatreds. Jon learns there is method behind the madness of his life, as his Father begins to bring him closer and closer into the ways of the cult. Ultimately, Jon must make a choice between all the pleasures of the earth and the future of his soul. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

I was engaged at eight o’clock. By nine, I was invisible. Elara Sinclair’s engagement ends in front of cameras and Manhattan’s elite when her fiancé carries another woman out and never looks back. The world watches. The lie spreads. And sympathy is given to the wrong woman. But accidents can be planned. Victims can be fake. And love can be weaponized. Elara refuses to stay silent in a world built to erase her—and the truth is far more dangerous than anyone expects.

I showed up to Luciano's birthday in his favorite lingerie—ready to surprise him. Instead, I walked in on him hooking up with my half-sister, Cecilia. Classic. So yeah, I dumped him on the spot and hit the nearest bar to blackout my rage. One thing led to another, and I ended up having a one-night stand with this insanely hot stranger. Plot twist? He turned out to be Luciano's adoptive dad. Yeah—Lysandro Godino. The freaking mafia Don. Since then, my life's been a mess of his dark world, intense nights, and seriously confusing feelings. He's wild. Possessive. Obsessive. The kind of man who doesn't believe in limits. And somewhere in all that chaos, I fell for him—hard. But does he love me back? I still don't know.

Ashlyn hasn't spoken a word since the age of eight, and her heart's never felt more protected. But, when the confident and ever so charming Derek stumbles into her quiet little world, her emotions-and forbidden desires-have never been so loud. For twenty years, silence is all Ashlyn Holland has known. Haunted by the memories of her father, and the harrowing song of the ocean that stole him from her, Ashlyn maintains a safe distance from the rest of the world. Treading carefully the sea of fear and anguish that surrounds her, Ashlyn is determined to do all she can to protect her heart from such a tragic loss striking again. In silence, she grieves. In silence, she is safe. In silence, she finds the strength to breathe. But the silence can only last so long... Derek Moreno is charming and devoted, and quick to see through every wall Ashlyn erects. With his arrival in town, defences fold and walls begin to crumble, the songs of her heart reaching new heights. Together, they crest twin tides of fate, the silence she'd once sought engulfed by his gentle touch, and the whispers of a love thought impossible. For the summer, Ashlyn welcomes the noise. The disruption. But, the ghosts of Derek's past will no longer remain silent, and their deafening power has the potential to drag them both into a current strong enough to drown them amidst their heartache.

To Be Loved Like This tells the story of Raegan, a woman who finds herself, not in the innocence of first love, but in the aftermath of becoming. Through the weight of loneliness, past wounds, and lives already lived, her self worth grows into something rare: a love that is steady, intentional, and safe. This is not a story about being saved, but about being chosen. It's about what happens when love shows up softly, stays, and proves that healing doesn’t have to hurt.