Ashes Of Desire
Dark RomanceLove-TriangleBadgirlCEORuthless
Evelyn Harlow’s been fighting for every inch her whole life. She drags grief like a shadow, drowns in debt, and keeps pushing through a world that’s never given her a break. Then her mother dies, and everything falls apart. She’s desperate, looking for any way out. That’s when Kieran “KJ” James walks in—slick smile, dangerous eyes, a plan that sounds straight-up impossible.
Two years back, Eve’s identical twin, Sophia, supposedly died in a fire at billionaire Alexander Voss’s mansion. No body. No closure. People kept whispering—maybe Sophia ran, maybe she hid, maybe she vanished on purpose.
Now KJ wants Eve to step in. Take Sophia’s place. One year. One identity. One fortune. All she has to do is walk into Sophia’s old life and pretend she fits.
But Alexander Voss isn’t what she pictured. He’s cold, tightly wound, broken in ways money can’t fix. He loved Sophia—obsessively. The moment “she” comes back, the air between them snaps. Fury, longing, and old ghosts crowd every second.
Their attraction burns, sharp and reckless. Every touch shakes Eve’s lies. Every look pulls Alex closer. She’s slipping—wrong memories, details she can’t fake, secrets she doesn’t know.
Then Marcus Kane—Sophia’s ex, Alex’s old best friend—spots her. He doesn’t blow her cover. Just circles, waiting for his chance. And when Detective Reyes reopens the fire case, the truth starts to claw its way out.
Sophia didn’t run. She died.
And someone wants Eve next.
Desire. Danger. Lies that burn. Welcome to Ashes of Desire.
閱讀
Chapter: Chapter 6: Flickering DoubtsEve paced the master bedroom, the thick carpet swallowing her footsteps. The storm had finally blown past, but it left behind a heavy, unnatural silence pressing in on the windows. Alex left her with a kiss on the forehead and a promise—he’d take care of Marcus. Whatever that meant. She could still hear him downstairs, voice low and sharp on the phone. Probably calling lawyers. Or security. Or something worse.She dropped onto the edge of the bed and rubbed her temples. Marcus’s words wouldn’t leave her alone: Your secret’s safe. For now. The birthmark. Of all things, a tiny detail KJ had skipped. Sophia had one. Eve didn’t. One look at her naked, and Alex might notice—if he hadn’t already. But last night, with all that heat and grief flying between them, he hadn’t said a word. Maybe he was too blinded by pain. Or maybe he just wanted to believe.Her phone buzzed under the pillow—KJ again.Status? Progress on the payout?She hesitated, then typed back: Working on it. Complications.Hi
最後更新: 2026-01-09
Chapter: Chapter 5: Shadows of TruthThree days drifted past, dissolving into a haze of silk sheets, whispered half-truths, and the subtle choreography of deception. The mansion breathed with hidden life, and Eve, ever watchful, adapted to its pulse. She fell in step with the staff’s daily rituals—the clatter of breakfast trays at eight, the silent vacuuming of carpets just after noon, the muted footsteps of the maid who lingered a little too long in the east hallway. She paid attention to the smallest details, letting them root inside her mind: the way Alex’s brow furrowed when he read the paper, the precise moment he took his coffee—always black, always scalding, a ritual as unyielding as the man himself. There was an order to his days, a predictability she clung to even as she was forced to improvise her own role within it.She immersed herself in Sophia’s past, tracing her signature in the faded guest books until her hand moved with the same looping confidence. She pored over every scrap from KJ’s files—old photograp
最後更新: 2026-01-09
Chapter: Chapter 4: Cracks in the FacadeEve woke tangled in sheets that didn’t belong to her, the unfamiliar softness cocooning her limbs. The morning sun, bold and intrusive, leaked through gauzy curtains, painting the room in gold. For a moment, she floated in that liminal space between sleep and waking, lost to time and place. This was not her cramped old apartment, with its peeling paint and cluttered shelves—this was something grander, airier, almost too gentle for the bruised edges of her memory.Then reality crashed in. Alex’s voice last night, the way he’d touched her as if she might disappear, the taste of his mouth. The weight of what she’d done—or hadn’t done—settled on her chest.She pressed her face into the pillow, the scent of him—coffee, soap, something darker—filling her lungs. She wondered if she was trying to breathe him in or drown herself. What was she doing here? Was this her life now, or just another mask?The door creaked open. Alex entered, balancing a tray with practiced care. Steam spiraled from t
最後更新: 2026-01-09
Chapter: Chapter 3: First NightEve struggled to breathe.It wasn’t because Alex was holding her too tight—though he definitely was. Every second in his arms chipped away at the walls she’d spent years building. He looked just like the photos, just like Sophia had always described. Tall. Broad shoulders. The scent of his cologne, expensive with a rougher edge underneath. All man.But the way he touched her—like she was both his hope and his downfall—she’d never felt anything like that before.He pulled back, just enough to see her face. His eyes—gold, burning, almost too bright up close—searched hers. Hungry. Desperate.“Sophia,” he said, voice soft.The name hit her like a slap. She wasn’t Sophia. Not ever.But she had to be, for now.“I missed you,” she whispered, the lie scraping her throat.His mouth crashed onto hers.Nothing about the kiss was gentle. Two years of grief and anger and longing all collided, pouring out in one brutal, consuming moment. His hands framed her face, holding her steady while his lips
最後更新: 2026-01-09
Chapter: Chapter 2: The ReturnAlexander Voss stood at the windows of his penthouse, gazing down at Manhattan’s sprawl. The city didn’t care if he was watching or not. It just kept going, the same as always. Lately, though, everything felt far away. Like he was watching it all through glass.Two years. That’s how long it had been since he rushed home to find his house burning, his life with it. He’d charged inside anyway, shouting for Sophia through smoke that tasted like ash and panic. He found nothing. Just what was left.He never cried at her memorial. Didn’t say a word. He just stood by while people handed him empty words about a marriage they thought was perfect.They didn’t know about the fights. The affairs—hers, not his. The way she’d started looking at him, like he was the last thing she needed to escape.His phone buzzed. Lila. He answered.“Alex? You need to come home.”“I’m working.”“It’s serious.” She hesitated. “Someone’s here. Says she’s Sophia.”He almost dropped his glass. Scotch splashed down his
最後更新: 2026-01-09
Chapter: Chapter 1: Ashes in the RainRain pounded the cemetery, washing the gravel paths into muddy rivers. Evelyn Harlow hunched under her useless black umbrella, teeth chattering as the last shovelfuls of dirt landed on her mother’s casket. The preacher had finished ages ago. Eve just couldn’t make herself walk away. Not yet.Now it was just her. Nobody left.Her mother, Marlene, fought cancer for three raw, endless years. It was more than enough time for the bills to bleed Eve dry—every dollar scraped from late-night diner shifts, gone. More than enough time to watch the woman who raised her—and Sophia—shrivel up in that tiny apartment, the air stinking of bleach and dread.Sophia. The name alone stung.She didn’t show up for the funeral. Eve hadn’t expected her to. Sophia vanished years back, off to her glossy new life with Alexander Voss. Yeah, that Alexander Voss—Forbes cover, billionaire, all of it. Last time Eve heard from her, Sophia was drunk, slurring accusations, calling her jealous. Like Eve ever wanted that
最後更新: 2026-01-09
登入
