Who Are The Key Critics Featured In 'Maintenance Phase'?

I was nineteen the first time Cole Whitfield broke me. Not with cruelty. With a single word. Why. Not did you — why. Like the answer was already settled and he just wanted the story to make sense. I told him the truth anyway. He said nothing that mattered. So I picked up my bag, walked out of his apartment, and decided that a man who trusted a rumor over two years of me wasn’t worth a correction. I spent the next two years becoming someone I actually liked. New city. Graduate program. A published paper with my name on it. I was done with Cole Whitfield in every way a person can be done. Then I walked into Seminar Room 114 and he was sitting right there, gray eyes already on the door, like some part of him knew. I sat down. I opened my notebook. I did not look up. Here’s the thing about studying how people form beliefs: you understand exactly why he believed it. That doesn’t mean you forgive it. That doesn’t mean two years of silence disappear because he’s learned how to look at you like he’s sorry. He wants a conversation. I want my degree. But the campus is small, the seminar table is round, and the boy who broke my heart at nineteen is doing everything right at twenty-one — and I’m starting to understand that composed isn’t the same thing as healed. I hate that I still know the exact sound of his voice.

For ten years, Charles served as the heart of his department at Black Industries, a senior manager renowned for his fierce protection of his team and his unwavering professional integrity. He was the buffer between his staff and the cold corporate world—until his boss’s blatant homophobic remarks crossed a line he could no longer tolerate. Refusing to work in an environment of prejudice, Charles walked away, a move that shattered the status quo and finally forced the "Iron Fist" CEO, David Black, to drop his mask. David, the formidable heir to the Black empire, had spent a decade secretly curating Charles’s career, keeping him close under the guise of professional necessity. The shock of Charles’s departure unearths years of repressed history and David’s deep-seated feelings. Realizing he cannot lose the one person who truly knows him, David pursues Charles, leading to a vulnerable and intense reunion. As the professional walls crumble, they begin a passionate love story, transitioning from the boardroom to a shared life of domestic warmth. Their new family is anchored by Charles’s two loyal companions: Bruce, a gentle Black Labrador, and Abe, an energetic Border Collie. Together, they find solace in quiet park walks and shared evenings, finally building the home David never thought he could have. However, their newfound happiness is not without its shadows. Standing in the wings is a formidable figure from the past—a tall, imposing presence in a suit and tie who refuses to let David’s legacy go. This mysterious antagonist threatens to dismantle their fragile peace, forcing Charles and David to decide if their love is strong enough to withstand a legacy designed to keep them apart.

This story revolves around the lovestory of a couple who had an unfortunate fate, where the man dies, and the girl lost all their memories; with the man's unyielding passion his soul travels through time and space, reincarnated in the near future, but everything has been changed. The world turns into a nightmare, and chaos spread all over. Come and let's unravel the mysteries of the unknown world. Engage yourself with THE REMAINING.

Ethan Mathews has just landed the opportunity of a lifetime: assisting the world renowned architect Dante Hart on a city defining project. But what begins as professional admiration soon becomes something far more dangerous. Late nights filled with whispered critiques, shared sketches, and stolen glances spark an undeniable attraction but the world is ready to judge. Colleagues whisper that Ethan is exploiting Dante, while Dante’s past heartbreak makes him wary of love. When a former partner resurfaces, determined to ruin Dante’s career, Ethan is forced to question whether their passion is worth the risk. A rival firm offers Ethan a tempting position, pushing him to choose between ambition and the man who has become his anchor. As rumors spiral and city officials threaten to remove Dante from the project, the two must navigate jealousy, sabotage, and the ever present scrutiny of a world that refuses to understand their love. Can they prove that their bond is built on trust, talent, and true desire, not just convenience and scandal? Or will ambition, fear, and envy tear them apart before their hearts and their masterpiece are complete?

An overpass in Winfeld that's still under construction ends up collapsing, leading to the deaths of many. Family members of the victims are up in arms, demanding that the person in charge pay the price for the incident. As the quality assurance inspector, I'm brought to court. However, I am just an intern. The real perpetrators are out clinking glasses, celebrating a clean getaway and the fact that they have a new scapegoat. Out of nowhere, the court introduces a new trial system that involves the extraction of memories directly from one's mind. In the middle of this major incident, a terrifying truth emerges. Everything goes all the way back to my university days…

In an East London lock up, two film makers, Jimmy and Sam, are duct taped to chairs and forced to watch a snuff film by Ashkan, a loan shark to whom they owe a lot of money. If they don’t pay up, they’ll be starring in the next one. Before the film reaches its end, Ashkan and all his men are slaughtered by unknown assailants. Only Jimmy and Sam survive the massacre, leaving them with the sole copy of the snuff film. The film makers decide to build their next movie around the brutal film. While auditioning actors, they stumble upon Melissa, an enigmatic actress who seems perfect for the leading role, not least because she’s the spitting image of the snuff film’s main victim. Neither the film, nor Melissa, are entirely what they seem however. Jimmy and Sam find themselves pulled into a paranormal mystery that leads them through the shadowy streets of the city beneath the city and sees them re-enacting an ancient Mesopotamian myth cycle. As they play out the roles of long forgotten gods and goddesses, they’re drawn into the subtle web of a deadly heresy that stretches from the beginnings of civilization to the end of the world as we know it. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing