LOGINShare
DEMEANING TO ME
Last Updated:
2025-03-08 04:05:33
Related chapters
PRETEND PRINCESS HOME MADE NIGHTMARES
Creed’s POVI shouldn’t have driven her home.I should have kept my distance, ignored the way she hesitated, ignored the way her eyes darted toward me like she wanted to run. But instead, I’d found myself pulling up beside her, insisting she get in.And for what? To say a few words, to get a reaction I didn’t even understand?It was foolish.I gripped the steering wheel as I parked in front of my house, my thoughts tangled in frustration.Six months.The damn wedding was six months away.April. Next year.The glossy flyer Zara had sent out had the date bolded at the center. April 23rd. Like I needed a reminder.Before that, there was the company’s annual trip in December, then the winter break. Everything was scheduled, planned, mapped out like I wasn’t even a person in all of this—just a name on an invitation card.How the hell did I get into this mess with Zara? How did I let myself get so tangled up?I exhaled sharply, rubbing my temples as I stepped out of the car. The tension in
Last Updated : 2025-03-09PRETEND PRINCESS SUDDEN FORMALITIES
Yuki’s POVI walked down the hall towards the coffee stand, my heels clicking softly against the floor.Look at me—master of heels, when just a few months ago, I could barely walk in them without tripping over my own feet.It was a new month. November. Grandpa Roman’s birthday was in a few weeks, and Lily and I had this big party planned.For the first time, I actually earned enough to throw him a proper celebration—one he deserved. It was something to hold onto, something to keep my mind off Creed.This obsession with him was becoming unhealthy, and I needed to stop.Like, actually stop.My entire life depended on this job. If I messed it up because I was messing around with my boss? That would be the dumbest mistake of my life.He regarded our quick moment of intimacy as nothing. So I should, too.Even though the feel of his lips on mine was catastrophic.That had been my motto for the past week, and it was working. Fairly well.But I still had one huge problem.Creed had given me h
Last Updated : 2025-03-10PRETEND PRINCESS LET ME DANCE TO LIFE
Yuki’s POVThe silence in my apartment was almost deafening.I stood in the middle of the living room, still in my towel, hair damp, staring at nothing in particular. My body was here, but my mind was far away.Something was missing.Not just something—everything.It wasn’t even about Creed. It was about me.My life had become an endless cycle of work, taking care of Grandpa, and occasionally squeezing in a bit of sleep. I was twenty-six. When had I become so boring?My eyes landed on the mirror across the room, and I walked up to it, dragging my fingers through my damp hair."When was the last time you actually did something for yourself, Yuki?" I whispered to my reflection.Silence.I sighed, letting my head drop back.Then, out of nowhere, a thought struck me.A completely random, impulsive thought.I needed to go out. Tonight.Something about the idea jolted me, like plugging in a dead phone and watching it flicker back to life.I grabbed my phone and dialed Lily. She picked up al
Last Updated : 2025-03-11PRETEND PRINCESS YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON'T
Yuki’s POVI already felt so lightheaded.I had no idea how much I had actually drunk or even what I had been drinking, but it made the dance floor even more exciting than it already was.My body moved in perfect rhythm with the music, my hips rolling fluidly as a guy pressed against me from behind. His hands hovered near my waist, hesitant but eager.I didn't care.Nothing mattered right now except the heat of the music, the blinding lights, and the electric pulse of the club.And then—"Miss Roman."The glittery haze I was in shattered.My breath caught, and my entire body stiffened.No. No, no, no.That voice—I could recognize it anywhere.Creed.The one person I wanted to avoid more than anyone else in the world.And I wasn’t even Yuyu Roman right now. I was Yuki. My real self. The self that was never meant to cross paths with him.I spun around in a panic, my heart hammering against my ribs. The flashing lights made it hard to see clearly, but then—I spotted him.Tall. Sharp. Com
Last Updated : 2025-03-11PRETEND PRINCESS I DON'T KNOW A YUYU
Yuki’s POV"This is bad, Yuki. Really bad."Lily clicked her tongue in disapproval as she dabbed antiseptic on the gash on my cheek. I hissed, jerking away, but she grabbed my chin and held me in place with a glare that could set fire to a wet log."Just help me, you nurse witch," I grumbled, flinching as she pressed a little too hard."Oh, I am helping you," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I’m helping you realize what a dumbass you are."I rolled my eyes."When you said you were going clubbing, I thought you meant having a good time, maybe a little harmless flirting, and getting your groove back. I didn’t think you’d come home at midnight looking like a goddamn crime scene.""Look, Lils, it hurts. Just patch me up and save the lecture for tomorrow, okay?" I whined, wincing as she pressed a cotton pad soaked in alcohol against the cut on my lip."Oh, it hurts?" she echoed mockingly. "Who would've thought getting punched in the face hurts?"I let out a long-suffering sigh. "You
Last Updated : 2025-03-12PRETEND PRINCESS BIG BRUISE
Yuki’s POVI buried myself under the blanket as the sharp knocking filled the entire house, blending with Suzu’s frantic barking. My heartbeat sped up. Whoever it was, they weren’t giving up easily.There was no way in hell I was answering that door.Lily had done a good job with whatever miracle ointment she’d slathered on me last night. The bruises barely looked half as bad anymore, though I still felt like a walking, talking wound. Some good rest and a steaming pot of soup should have me ready for work tomorrow."Will this cover all the bruises?" I had asked her last night."This is medicine, not Jesus, Yuki. Lower your expectations," she’d replied dryly, dabbing more onto my wounds.I hissed at the sting, but at least it was working. Mostly.Now, I pressed deeper into my blankets, listening. The knocking had stopped, but there were muffled voices.Lily?No, she wouldn’t knock. She had keys.Curiosity got the best of me. I pushed myself up, groaning as my body protested. Slowly, I
Last Updated : 2025-03-13PRETEND PRINCESS ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A FRUSTRATED BOY
Creed’s POVIt’s been four weeks—a full month since the whole Yuyu mix-up. Now it was December, which meant winter, which meant the company’s complementary vacation was next week, followed by the gala.Damn Madam Olive and her compulsory events."Everyone is going to run from your company if you work them like this," she had said years ago, massaging her temples like I was some kind of hopeless case. Then she threw in that ridiculous all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy nonsense.I remember scoffing. All work and no play makes Jack a rich boy.But it wasn’t up to me anymore. The team that won—the one from Yuyu’s department—chose a mountain resort. A snow-covered hellhole.This was going to be a long week.And it was only a few more months until I married Zara.That thought hit me like a chain snapping around my throat, cold and suffocating. The Creed Malcom from before wouldn’t have cared. I would’ve gone about business as usual. I hardly even entertained women anymore. In the e
Last Updated : 2025-03-13PRETEND PRINCESS LOVE IS AN IDIOT
Yuki's povI stared at the screen for a solid five seconds before I answered. "Oh, wow. Who is this? I don't recognize the number because, you know, you never fucking call me.""Don't get started," Eric said, voice smooth, a little frayed. "I'm calling you now, aren't I?""Yeah, after weeks of nothing, Mr. International Playboy.""Business trips, baby. You know how it is.""Do I? Do I really? Because last I knew, business trips didn't consist of you disappearing off the face of the fucking world."Eric huffed theatrically. "You're so heartless to me.""And you're so thoughtless."There was silence. I bit my lip, tightening fingers around my phone. Every time Eric would leave, he made me as if I were nothing. No calls, no messages. Like I was forgotten. And every time, I told myself I wouldn't care. That I was accustomed to it.But still, it stung.Eric broke the silence. "I'm gonna be in town next week."I blinked. "Next week? Like, after I get back from the resort?""Yeah."I exhaled
Last Updated : 2025-03-14
Latest chapter
PRETEND PRINCESS MY HEART HURTS
Creed's PovIt was past midnight.The bottle that I held was almost empty, but I did not mind. I was not drinking to be joyful. I was not even drinking to forget. I was drinking because it was the only way I could make the silence that greeted me endurable.I reclined slumped on the couch in my living room, the sole item of furniture that was more like a cell than home. There were shadows everywhere. The clock chimed out so loudly it sounded like a hammer in my head.And still.Still, I couldn't stop thinking about Yuyu.Fucking Yuki.With that goddamn smirk and those fuckin' sparklin' bright eyes and the way he looked at me like I was something, anything when he had no idea who the fuck I even was.I hated him.I missed him.I hadn't the fuck idea what I was feelin' anymore.Was I gay now? Did I swing this way? Did I just FUCKIN' happen to be feelin' desperately for someone, anyone, to look at me like I weren't a damned monster?Jesus Christ, no.I tipped the bottle to my lips again,
PRETEND PRINCESS NEW BEGINNINGS
Yuki's pov The flying part wasn't scary.I wasn't terrified of airplanes.I wasn't terrified of turbulent flight or height or any of that.I was terrified of beginning again.Terrified of seeing myself.For three weeks — almost four — I had done nothing but rot. Fault myself. Cry. Break things. Apologize to specters.That was enough.I couldn't keep going on like that.Mom wouldn't have wanted me to go on like that.Grandpa wouldn't either, even if he didn't always recall me.I stared out the plane window, clouds streaking across the horizon like wet paint, my chest aching.Memories ripped at me — Creed's voice, his smile, then the shock in his eyes.Grandpa's laugh, the way he used to call me his "boy."Lily's hugs.Small shattered pieces of my life slipping further and further away from me as the plane flew east.I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood.No more tears.No more pity parties.I can do this.This is my new start.Mom would be proud.I hugged myself hard, wrapped the th
PRETEND PRINCESS GOOD BYE
Lily's POVThe ride to the airport was too short.I continued to sneak glances at Yuki beside me, soaking him in—his dark, messy hair, the nervous drum of his fingers against his jeans, the nervous bounce of his knee.As if if I stared long enough, I could burn the picture of him into my head and never forget.He caught me staring and smiled weakly. "What?""Nothing," I said quickly, attempting to smile. "Just. don't chicken out."He grinned, but it wasn't natural. "Too late to run now, huh?""Way too late," I taunted softly.The problem was, I wished he would run.I wanted to bang the car doors closed, drive us somewhere a thousand miles from here, and wish he wouldn't be going.But I couldn't.He had to go.He needed this new start.Even if it killed me.We pulled up to Departures. Yuki opened his backpack, fiddling with the straps like they were the most fascinating thing on earth.I pulled up and turned off the engine.We sat there, neither of us moving, for a moment.Then Yuki le
PRETEND PRINCESS TAKE CARE OF HIM FOR ME
Yuki's POV"You're leaving today."Lily's voice was gentle, but it hit me like a punch.I crouched at the foot of the bed, staring at the carpet. My fingers tapped on the frayed cuff of my jacket, pulling at loose threads as if I could somehow roll back time and stay here in this cramped safe room, stuck forever.I didn't look at her. I didn't move."Yuki," she said once more, coming to kneel beside me. Her hand lay lightly on my knee. "Then I think it's time you saw your grandfather."I shook my head."No, it's not," I grunted. "I'm not ready."She let out a tired, aching sigh, the kind you do when you don't want to cry. "You've been here for a month. You're better now. You're stronger, plus do you really plan on going halfway across the world and not seeing him before you go.""Stronger?" I laughed roughly. "I'm still a mess.""You're recovering," she amended. "And you have to — you'd just have to visit him before you go."Her words sliced through me more deeply than I cared to ackn
PRETEND PRINCESS CURSED
Creed's POVI slammed the office door shut so hard that the walls vibrated. The secretary outside yelped as if she thought the damn ceiling was going to come crashing down."Get me the quarterly reports," I barked. "Now."She rushed out of her seat, almost falling over her own feet. Pitiful.I paced in front of my office like a wild animal in a cage, blood pumping hotter each passing second. All of this was pissing me off every day now. The terrible coffee. The creeping elevators. The godforsaken interns' breathing out in the corridor.Five weeks. Five weeks since I let go of that imposter, yet my heart clenched at the thought of her…of him !Anger boiled in my veins over and over but today a particular anger took over me, one o couldn't explain but already had ties to That imposter I didn't need him and I wasn't gay!There was no going back for me. And I felt the whole office knew that from the very moment I resumed, a week ago Besides they couldn't blame me for their incompeten
PRETEND PRINCESS NOT WHO I REMEMBER
Lily's POVToday became tomorrow.Tomorrow became next week.Next week became three endless weeks.And somehow, despite all the promises I made to myself, I still hadn't met Yuki.I don't even know how it all tightened up like that — how every small detail became so hard. Between caring for Grandpa Roman, going back and forth to the hospital for meds, doctor appointments, dealing with his therapies — life had gotten tangled around my neck with no mercy. I didn't have space to catch my breath, didn't have time to think. And amidst all of this, something gnawed at me:Yuki trusted me.I had been entrusted with Grandpa Roman — with one of the only people he loved — and deep, way down deep inside me, I knew I didn't want to let him down.But today. today was different. Today was the day. I was really going to fix all of it.I was going to go see him, apologize for whatever stupidness drove us apart, tell him about what he'd seen that day with Dan, tell him everything.Dan.He officially m
PRETEND PRINCESS AGAIN
Zara's POVThere's regret.There's pain.And then there's anger — thick, bitter, wild anger.I didn't deserve this.I was the last person in this damn world that deserved this.He wasn't supposed to push me away.He wasn't supposed to treat me like… like I was nothing.I was supposed to be by his side.I was supposed to be the one to fix him. To save him.I paced back and forth in my chamber, my hands in my palms, trying to contain the storm raging inside me.The walls were closing in, the air heavy, and my mind was filled with his face. His eyes. His lips. His voice when he'd instructed me to leave.I hated him.I loved him.God — I loved him.I couldn't take it anymore."Call Zed," I barked at one of my servants.She stopped. "Now, ma'am?""Now!" I screamed.My hands were trembling. My heart thudding. I was unraveling, going crazy and I didn't give a damn anymore.Within minutes, Zed arrived.Tall, dark, as calm as ever.He always had been.The man who took orders quietly, who had a
PRETEND PRINCESS ALL ALONE
Yuki's POVTwo weeks.That's 20,160 minutes. Twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes of pure torture.I'd texted Creed so much. Too much, really. Sorrys I couldn't phrase correctly first, things I didn't have the courage to tell him out loud before, little things I knew he didn't want to hear. I texted anyway, hoping for a crumb of a reply.But there was nothing. No dot. No word. No fucking breath.So I made up my mind. I'd made it up the day everything went wrong—the day everything went in the opposite direction of my plans, like some sick cosmic joke. I was leaving New York. Done. Finito. Finished.Lily hadn't called me for two weeks either. It was as if my world had burst wide open, and I stood in the middle of a great emptiness. Grandpa Roman… two weeks of nothing from him too. Two weeks of not hearing his shaking, bewildered voice, of not chasing after him when he got me mixed up with my mother. Two weeks alone, tearing myself apart, living on my own regrets.I was complet
PRETEND PRINCESS THIS ISN'T YOU
Creed's POVTwo weeks.Fourteen days.20,160 minutes.I knew because I counted them. Every goddamn one of them.It's ironic that you know exactly how you feel about someone after 20,160 minutes of silence. No calls. No texts. No presence. Nothing. Just a void where they used to be. The only sound was my own breathing and it had started to get under my skin. My house was worse than my head. Clothes scattered everywhere. Empty bottles. Shattered frames. A grime mountain I could barely bring myself to look at — and still, I hung around there, festering amidst it like some wounded beast.I hadn't left for the office in two weeks. Fourteen days. No one had tried calling anymore. No one knocked. Not since the third day when I ripped the doorbell off of the wall and hurled it out of the window. My stubble was heavy. I barely recognized the face staring back at me in the mirror the occasional time I made the mistake of looking.I flopped onto the bed, blankets that smelled like sweat and guil
