The Bride They Buried Alive
For six years Lila has played the perfect invisible daughter... plain, quiet, and worthless... just to survive her cruel, status-obsessed family. While her golden sister shines in the spotlight, Lila secretly thrives as the rising actress Liora Vale. No one knows the woman she really is. Starved for even a scrap of love, she has learned to disappear so completely that she almost believes the lie herself.
When her sister refuses to marry the “Broken Heir” Damien Blackthorn, Lila is sacrificed in her place. Everyone expects her to become the silent, obedient wife to a man everyone pities. But the moment she accidentally falls into Damien’s lap, he sees straight through her mask... and chooses her.
Now trapped in his mansion, Lila discovers Damien isn’t broken at all. He’s being slowly poisoned by his own uncle, and he’s far more dangerous than anyone realizes. At the same time, Damien realizes the quiet wife forced on him is actually a brilliant actress living a double life. Two masked predators are now bound in marriage, each hiding lethal secrets, while Lila’s family and Damien’s uncle close in to destroy them both.
In a union built on performance, betrayal, and forbidden desire, can two people who have never been truly seen by anyone learn to trust each other... or will they destroy one another before the masks finally come off?
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Chapter: Chapter 8I lay on top of the covers fully dressed, the programme on the pillow beside me, staring at the ceiling until the light outside turned white. The circle in ink kept pulling my eyes back to it. Clean. Deliberate. At some point footsteps passed in the corridor. Slow. They stopped outside my door just long enough... then moved on without knocking. I didn't move. At seven a knock came. A woman I hadn't met opened the door a crack. Neat uniform. Eyes to the floor. "Mr. Blackthorn asks if you'll join him for breakfast, ma'am." "Tell him I'll be down in ten minutes." I folded the programme and buried it at the bottom of my bag. Then I stood in front of the mirror and put Lila back on. Shoulders in. Chin down. The look that said nothing and asked for less. I'd worn it for six years. It still fit. Damien was already at the table when I came downstairs. No Victor. Just him, a cup of coffee, and the morning papers beside his plate. He didn't look up immediately. Which told me he'd hea
Last Updated: 2026-04-24
Chapter: Chapter 7"You have twenty-four hours to pack."My mother didn't look up from her coffee when she said it.I was still holding a dish towel. "Pack?""Don't repeat me." She set her cup down. "Victor Blackthorn called this morning. Damien wants you at the estate by tomorrow evening. Your husband..." the word came out like something she'd stepped in "...doesn't believe in long engagements."Husband.I set the towel on the counter and didn't say anything else.Twenty-four hours.Isabella found me upstairs, stuffing cardigans into a bag I hadn't finished packing."He picked you because you're manageable." She leaned in the doorway, arms crossed. "Do you know what Victor said about you? That you don't resist anything. Not even when it hurts you."Her gaze stayed on me. "You've always been like that. Even when we were younger. Always agreeing. Always disappearing."I kept folding. "Maybe.""Don't do that." Something shifted in her voice. Almost real. "Talk to me like a person."I looked up."You didn'
Last Updated: 2026-04-24
Chapter: Chapter 6The lawyer’s words still hung in the dining room like smoke.Lila stood frozen by the window, the black car long gone. Her pulse roared in her ears. Damien Blackthorn had looked straight at her and said the words she could still see on his lips.Lila... you are mine.Her mother’s voice shattered the silence first. “This is a mistake. It has to be. Lila was not even at the gala. She has done nothing to deserve this.”Her sister shot up from her chair, face twisted. “He chose her? The one who disappears to run errands? I smiled at him the entire night. I posed for every photo. And he wants the nobody who wasn’t even there?”Lila turned slowly from the window. She kept her face blank, the same mask she had perfected for six years. But inside her mind raced. The table read was tonight at eight. The director expected Liora Vale. Her mother now expected her to be the perfect, obedient daughter who would smile and accept whatever arrangement the Blackthorns demanded.Her mother paced the len
Last Updated: 2026-04-13
Chapter: Chapter 5The dining room was quiet the next morning except for the clink of silverware. Lila moved around the table pouring tea no one had asked for. Her mother and sister sat scrolling through last night’s gala photos, voices low and satisfied.Her mother didn’t glance up. “You will explain yourself later, Lila. Your absence was noticed. Victor Blackthorn asked where the other daughter was. I had to lie and say you were ill.”Her sister laughed softly. “Damien just sat there the whole night. Cold. Silent. The Broken Heir. But Mother still thinks the fortune is worth it. I smiled through every photo like a professional.”Lila set the teacup down in front of her mother and stepped back. She kept her face blank, but her mind was still replaying the moment she had fallen into Damien’s lap, the solid strength of his hands, the sharp way his eyes had locked on hers. Not broken. Not helpless.The doorbell rang.Her mother straightened. “That will be the Blackthorn lawyers. They said they would send
Last Updated: 2026-04-13
Chapter: Chapter 4Lila slipped through the side gate just after eleven-forty. The gala lights still spilled across the driveway, but the main entrance was quieting down. She had changed back into her plain black dress in the taxi, yet her blood still hummed from the callback. The director’s last words kept replaying: “You’re locked in for the full series, Liora. You owned that stage tonight.”She moved fast toward the back door, bag heavy with the wig and makeup. One more minute and she would be upstairs, safe.She never made it.A wheelchair rolled out of the main hallway right as she turned the corner. Damien Blackthorn sat in it, dark suit sharp, face unreadable under the low lights. His uncle Victor walked beside him, speaking quietly. Lila tried to step back, but her foot caught the edge of the marble step.She pitched forward.Her hands landed on the arms of the wheelchair. Her body followed, collapsing straight into Damien’s lap.Time slowed.For one long second she was pressed against him… ches
Last Updated: 2026-04-13
Chapter: Chapter 3The house was in chaos by late afternoon. Servants rushed through the halls carrying garment bags and flower arrangements while Lila’s mother barked orders from the bottom of the staircase. The annual charity gala was tonight, and the family had to look perfect.Lila stood in the sunroom doorway with the last box of printed programs, watching it all. Her mother adjusted the emerald gown on her sister for the third time.“Remember, darling, smile for every camera. The Blackthorn name is on the guest list. Damien Blackthorn himself might make an appearance, even if it’s only in that damned wheelchair. We need to look connected.”Her sister twirled once, the gown catching the light. “The Broken Heir? Mother, the press calls him a tragedy. Rich, yes, but who wants to be photographed next to a man who can’t even stand?”Their mother’s voice sharpened. “We want the fortune. Smile anyway. Lila, you’ll stay in the background tonight. Hand out programs, keep the drinks flowing for the VIP sect
Last Updated: 2026-04-13
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