𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨? 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧."

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱-𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝗺𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐯𝗼𝐧,𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝗼𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝗼𝐛𝐥𝐞𝗺𝐬 𝐠𝗼 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭? 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝗺𝐞? 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝗼𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜.

𝖠 𝗅𝖺𝖻 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇．

"In seven days, God 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 the world. In seven seconds, I 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 mine." A short story.

People have spent years turning Zakai into some kind of monster. Scarred by a tragic apartment fire that took place when he was only eleven years old, Zakai has lived most of his life hiding from the world. With rumors surrounding his name and judgment following him everywhere he goes, isolation became safer than being seen. Meanwhile, Kinsley never expected a simple errand job to lead her to him. What starts as grocery store runs and brief interactions slowly becomes something neither of them saw coming. Because beneath Zakai's cold and distant exterior is a man struggling with years of guilt, grief, and loneliness. And the closer Kinsley gets, the harder it becomes to walk away. Some scars never fade, people just teach you how to live with them.

Jasani Bennett has lost everything - his baby mama to an overdose, his faith in women, and now his home. All he has left is his four-year-old son, Sincere, and the cold streets of Chicago in December. When the snow turns to freezing rain, Von's pride nearly costs them shelter until Jailyn Wilson, a stylist stuck in Chicago for the holidays, sees them outside as she's driving back to her Airbnb. Against her better judgment, she lets them in for the night. What was supposed to be one night turns into days as Jasani struggles with his trust issues and Jailyn struggles with her loneliness. The tension builds as she teaches Sincere the joy of Christmas while slowly breaking through Jasani's walls. But the question is - will Von let go of his pain and accept that maybe, Christmas didn't just come to Chicago, it came to save him?

Ariya Monroe doesn't play games with love after her past-but when she meets Dayvon, she realizes he only plays for keeps.