Novels by MJG

Chapter 4 – Celine’s Mockery****Althea’s POV****Morning sunlight spilled through the resort’s wide glass windows, turning the marble floors into sheets of gold. It was beautiful painfully so. My eyes were still heavy from restless sleep, my heart tangled in a fog of guilt and confusion.I hadn’t slept much after that night. The taste of salt on my lips, the heat of that moment, the way his voice murmured my name it haunted me. Every memory replayed in fragments, distorted by emotion and disbelief.I’d told myself it was Damian. My husband. The man I loved.But something about that night felt... off. There was tenderness in him, a gentleness I hadn’t seen in Damian in years. His hands were warm, his words almost careful. Damian never was.I stared at my reflection in the mirror pale, drained, uncertain. I straightened my blouse, forced on my corporate smile, and walked out of the suite as if nothing had happened.Today was the second day of the retreat meetings, brainstorming sess

Chapter 3 – The Stranger’s EyesAlthea Rivera’s POVThe bus wound through a serpentine road surrounded by towering pines and slopes bathed in gold. The air smelled of salt and pine sap, thick with the promise of something unfamiliar. Everyone was buzzing with chatter, but I sat quietly by the window, the sound of laughter behind me blending into a blur.It had been a long week. Meetings, reports, sleepless nights and Damian, as usual, had been more ghost than husband. He said he’d follow on a private flight; appearances had to be maintained. Always appearances.I ran a thumb over the simple silver ring on my chain, hidden beneath my blouse. It was all I could wear of our marriage. No one could know.When the bus finally pulled into the resort gates, everyone gasped. Navarro Haven Resort stretched like a painting come to life endless blue pools glimmering beneath the sun, villas tucked into the hillside, and glass buildings that seemed to float over water. It was perfection. Expensive,

Chapter 2 – The Office of LiesAlthea Rivera’s POVThe sound of heels clicking across the marble floor echoed like the rhythm of a lie I’d learned to live with. Every step inside Navarro Enterprises was a reminder of the secret I carried a ringless marriage, a love buried beneath contracts and board meetings.The glass walls of the building gleamed under the morning light, reflecting the image of someone I barely recognized. A woman in her late twenties, dressed in muted confidence, her blouse pressed and her expression steady. I adjusted my ID card clipped to my blazer:ALTHEA RIVERA – Head of Marketing.No title of “Mrs.”. No indication that the man who owned this company, the man whose name was engraved on the building itself, shared my bed in the shadows.“Morning, Ms. Rivera,” greeted the front desk clerk, smiling politely.“Good morning,” I returned, forcing a small curve of my lips.As I stepped into the elevator, my heart thudded at the sight of her. Samantha Cruz Marketing As

CHAPTER 1— THE SECRET BRIDEAlthea Rivera’s POVI used to believe that love could survive anythingndistance, lies, even silence. But I’ve learned that sometimes, silence isn’t peace. It’s the sound of a heart breaking quietly in a room no one knows exists.My name is Althea Rivera Navarro.At least, it’s supposed to be.Only a handful of people know that name exists Damian’s family, our lawyer, and me. To the rest of the world, I am simply Althea Rivera, the marketing head of Navarro Group, brilliant at presentations and loyal to my boss, the CEO everyone adores Damian Navarro, my husband.Our marriage is not a secret because it’s forbidden. It’s a secret because he wanted it that way.I wake up to the familiar echo of my alarm cutting through the stillness of our bedroom. The soft hum of the city beyond our penthouse window barely reaches me. For a moment, I stare at the ceiling, tracing the faint reflection of dawn’s light on the white paint. The space around me feels too big, too q