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SECRETS UNDER THE TREE
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-04-11 17:29:39
Bab terkait
PRETEND PRINCESS NEW YEAR, NEW HAIR
CREED'S POVJanuary 9th. Monday. The type of Monday that tasted of regret and cold coffee, eating at the back of my mind.The holidays were a blur—Zara's silence, my guilt, YuYu's kiss.God, YuYu.I had not heard from Zara for two weeks. Nothing. No text, even a suggestion that one was on its way. She was done trying, and truthfully? I didn't blame her one bit. I led her on, made her believe there was a chance when there wasn't. I gave her hope there was something left when I knew already I'd given what little I had to someone else—or at least, whatever remained of it.It was my fault. I shouldn't have treated her like that. Zara wasn't just some girl I'd once loved—she was a friend. A damn good one. Seeing someone like her get hurt… killed something within me.And now I was going to do the same to YuYu.Except this was worse. Because I didn't just lead YuYu on—I wanted her. I missed her. I yearned for her in a way that was irrational and all-consuming. I hadn't seen her in weeks eith
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-12PRETEND PRINCESS I'M DONE WITH THIS
ZARA'S POVI was done waiting.Done sitting in my bedroom like some lovesick goof while the entire world went on as if all was right with the world. Done listening to my mother's stage-whisper motivational speeches and my friends' babying phone calls. Done watching Creed just sort of go on like I had meant nothing to him.He ended the engagement like a business. Like nothing was important.And nobody batted an eye.But I did.Couldn't. Wouldn't.So I grabbed my bag, put on my best coat — the one Creed'd always say made me look "like trouble in heels" — and out the door I went. I wasn't really sure what I'd do until I was standing in front of the tall glass building with CREED X TECHNOLOGIES in silver letters above the door.I took a deep breath.Today wouldn't be about crying.It wouldn't be memories.It would be about regaining control."Good morning, Miss Zara," the receptionist chirped, clearly taken aback to see me.I smiled, as if I didn't care about the covert glances people th
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-13PRETEND PRINCESS DOES NOT EXIST
Zara's POV I opened the door and was greeted at once with the reek of smoke, cheap alcohol, and some pungent unknownness. The room was dimly lit with mismatched sofas, flashing screens, bent heads over keyboards, and billows of smoke suspended in mid-air.People in hoodies, ripped jeans, half of whom had tattoos crawling up their necks and faces, all scowling through the fog at their screens like vultures over a carcass.God, this place is vile.I straightened my shoulders, clinging to what was left of my dignity. I didn't want to be inhaling this air for more than a decade."Looking for someone, sweetheart?" a greasy-eyed man with a lip ring sneered from the corner."I need Zed."I was crisp and icy in tone.A hum ran over the tables around us. A few of them looked at one another before one of them pointed down the back. "Booth twelve."I strode across tangled wires and trash-covered soda cans, heels clicking on the filthy floor, hating every second.There, in the corner booth, sat
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-13PRETEND PRINCESS GOING TO DISAPPEAR
CREED'S POVIt was midnight.And I couldn't sleep.I'm in bed staring up at the ceiling, arms behind my head, feeling like a man set to fold all the way.I was uneasy, burning to pieces inside my own fucking skull.All I'd suppressed those last few weeks — all those feelings, thoughts I'd been sealing up tight and keeping out from the world — were clawing around my belly.I was finished.And all because of her.Yuyu Roman.That annoying, biting-tongued, infuriating child with that ridiculous laugh and infuriatingly insightful eyes.The last face I hadn't laid eyes on in weeks — and yet, inexplicably, still omnipresent everywhere.In my mind.In my goddamn nightmares.Under my skin.What's going on with you, Creed?I cursed with a heavy sigh, reaching for my phone.I scrolled mindlessly for a minute or so, until my thumb hovered over the employee directory document I'd saved on my phone — the one with all the staff contacts.For professional purposes.Only professionally.Yeah, sure.I
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-14PRETEND PRINCESS BUBBLE GUM
Yuki's POVI walked into the office today with a brand-new attitude.No more creeping around.No more rolling in terror like a whimp.I had time.Time meant that I lived a little — flirted with the guy that I liked, for goodness' sake — before I vanished off to nowhere, before the reality of what I was ruined my life.I wore a star ensemble today.Bubblegum pink suit.Pants to match.Steep white stilettos.My blonde hair was drawn back into a snatched ponytail, so tight it was virtually a club. Praise God for glue and high-tech wig science, really, or my little secret would have gone sky-high months ago.Concealed under my jacket, I had on a sharp white crop top — crisp, plain, cutting.And the tie? Oh, sweetie, it was accessorized within an inch of its life.Princess Bubblegum pin. A pink bow duo. White Hello Kitty. And a dash of sparkly nonsense.I was a CEO Barbie dream turned reality — and I loved every second of it.I strode into the office as if I owned it.My bubblegum heels ta
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-14PRETEND PRINCESS TO BE CONSUMED
Zara's POV My voice was tighter than I meant it to be.Not that I cared.Zed grinned like an idiot, behind me into the office.He slumped into the desk chair, plugged in the drive and his laptop, and started typing.The screen turned blue and white as files downloaded — folders within folders of work documents, names, codes, files labeled things like 'Q1 Analytics' and 'Client Data Structure'.His fingers moved fast, the clicking of keys filling the silence.After a couple of minutes, he leaned back, running a hand through his messy dark hair.“Looks pretty normal to me,” he shrugged. “I don’t think we’re gonna find much on this drive. It’s mostly work-related, charts, performance reports, boring shit.”I spun on him so fast his smirk slipped.“That is confidential shit.”I stabbed a finger in his direction.If you lose one file, one line of code — if you steal so much as the email address of one client, Zed — I'll know. I'll bury you in lawsuits so deep your grandkids'll be born in
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-14PRETEND PRINCESS OSCAR WINNING PERFORMANCE
Creed's POVFabulous.That was the best my brain could do then.She appeared… amazing.Sweat sprinkled across her forehead, a fine sheen flashing on her skin — and that dress.My God, that dress made her a princess from some faraway, unreachable kingdom.A bright, deep red, cinched just so at the waist, flowing out in liquid silk."You're in the ladies' restroom, Mr. Malcolm," she gasped, breathless, flustered — and outrageously adorable."You can be arrested for privacy… co–…" she stuttered on the word.'Code.'The phrase was privacy code, but I was too engaged in the motion of her lips, too focused on the pounding of my heart.A smile crept across my face, my heart pounding furiously, a warmth I didn't know existed burning in my chest.Do you want my assistance or not?" I queried smugly, the words rushing ahead before my mind caught up to them.I strode further into the minute bathroom, observing a tangible terror flicker across her bright, erratic eyes."I do not want your assistan
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-15PRETEND PRINCESS HOME WRECKER
Zara's POVHis mouth was… firm.Softness encased in something desperate, something wild.His arms went around my waist as though I was the only thing propping him up, drawing me deeper into that pinched, gulping space between us.What was this?And worse — why did I like it?My fingers sank into his dirty shoulder-length hair, which was rougher than I'd intended, but his breath caught — a weak, gagged moan slipping out of him like a secret he didn't want to share.Then he released my lips, tracing the side of my neck with slow, soft licks of his tongue.Hold on.Hold on one damn minute.What the actual fuck was I doing?"Get off me!" I growled, pushing him away as if he'd scalded my skin.I glared at him, my chest heaving and falling, heat still pricking along my skin in the wake.His eyes sparkled — pleased, smug, infuriating."How dare you?" I spat.He had the nerve to laugh."Calm down. You kissed me."I stopped.My mouth dropped open, words elbowing for space, because he was right
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-15
Bab terbaru
PRETEND PRINCESS A MIRAGE IN LIP GLOSS
Creed's POVI didn't sleep much last night. Not that I ever really sleep anymore. It's like, closing my eyes is an invitation for him, that annoying guy with the lip gloss and pink pant suits and perpetual ruin. Yuki Roman. Yuyu Roman. Whatever name he's going by this week, who cares. He's always tagging along behind me.And here I was, across the sprawling obsidian table, trying to focus on the droning voices of suit-wearing men with expensive cologne and stale paper smells. I had a headache. Not any headache—the kind that presses behind your eyes and makes you want to scurry under a desk."Creed X needs to step up," someone was saying."Revenue shares are off thirty-two percent this quarter.""Investors haven't invested a dime in nearly a month. It's as if the spark vanished."Spark.I knew exactly what that referred to. Or rather, whom.Yuki Roman. That wicked walking confetti bomb in stilettos. The chaos. The pink. The shine. The attitude. The absurdity. The genius."You shrugged
PRETEND PRINCESS THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Yuki's povFriday already, and I walked into the office looking a whole lot better than I had all week. Something about waking up without crying counted as a victory, I guess. I had on my favorite pink pantsuit, fitted in the right places, flared in the right places, over a white blazer and over a white crop top that was wrapped around me like a best friend's hug. Whoever gave the assignment to get me to stop dressing like Yu-Yu Roman because I was a boy must not have been the one. Yu-Yu Roman was not a costume; it was me. Me fabulous, me bold, me crazy. Yuki wearing a wig. And no, I didn't mind if that made people nuts. In fact, that was half the fun. And although I didn't have the one thing that burned in my heart at the moment—Creed—I still needed to be me. For Grandpa. For Mom and Dad who watched from heaven. For myself.I stopped at the entrance of the workspace and put my hands together in a quick prayer gesture. "Let today be fabulous," I said quietly. "And keep the haters in
PRETEND PRINCESS NOT SO HOLLOW
Yuki's POVI wrapped my knees around my chest, buried my head, and let myself fall into the quiet. Just for an instant. Just until the false voices stopped in my head."Hey," I spoke softly to nothing. "If you were here… I think I'd be okay."But he wasn't. And neither was I. So I let the quiet overtake meEven without Creed,and his pretty features and shary mouth .I still had Lily. My best friend. My sister from another mister. The only one who got all my colors, from cotton-candy pink to black rage. And though it looked like we were floating away, tangled in our own lives, what better time to pull her close than now? Especially when every corner of me felt empty and paper-thin.And I missed Grandpa Roman. My forever cranky sunshine. I'd not heard his deep voice in days, had not seen his sleepy grin, had not made fun of his horrid sock choices. I felt lost.So I phoned.The screen flashed, the spinning loading wheel whirring like a worried dancer across the stage. And then Lily's fa
PRETEND PRINCESS FIND MY WAY HOME
Yuki's POVI was pissed. Incandescent with anger. Japan wasn't like America, and I was suddenly bitching out,at my state of distress. Already a minute to midnight and running out of battery.The streets of Tokyo, which had once been so vibrant and alive, had grown quiet and deserted, and I was left with only my thoughts and the faint light of streetlamps. I had roamed the city streets, trying to clear my head, but now I couldn't find any familiar landmarks. The city's maze-like streets and the absence of street names made things no easier."Fine," I complained, lowering my voice to an impersonation of Creed's. "Miss Roman, how did you get lost?"I continued with the act, playing the two parts."Well, Mr. Creed, I took a walk to calm my head and ended up. here.""Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant."I signed, feeling the weight of it all crashing down on me. "Something must be really, really wrong with me," I whispered.I wandered along the streets, the maze-like layout of the city not he
PRETEND PRINCESS ANGRY BIRD
Yuki's POVI was tired.No—tiredness was for ordinary people who had to deal with traffic and taxes and misplace where they left their keys.Me? Fatigue. Soul-burned. Heart-frost. Libido-dead. It had been what, two million years since I'd had sex? Okay, not that long but in Yuki time, that was practically Jurassic.And I knew I was exaggerating—but I'm a drama queen. Or was.Recently, I was just. ugh. Even the people I work with noticed. And let's be real: when I bring the bad energy, it's officially doomsday. Usually, I'm the one bouncing around like a human glitter cannon, dispensing sarcasm and skipping through patients' rooms with brightly colored hairpins and irresponsibly sweet coffee. Today,Today, I sat behind my desk like a cheap Squidward.You okay?" Jim whispered by, a tray in her hand and that knowing frown on her face."Peachy," I growled, poking at the keyboard as if it offended me personally.She didn't believe me. No one did.Because I wasn't okay.Nothing was okay.I
PRETEND PRINCESS HAPPY YOU'RE HERE
Lily's POVIt had been almost a week since Yuki had departed for Japan. I was still not used to it. We had not been communicating on a regular basis, not since the craziness with the job, the farewell, and all that lay in between. But saying goodbye to him that day had marked my heart. It felt like something irreversible. Like something had ended. I could not say the words, but part of me felt abandoned.Dan had been trying his best. I liked him—I really did—and today we were going to catch up at last the way we were meant to. A genuine date, a sit-down dinner at our favorite Italian place on Twelfth and Granville. We hadn't had anything romantic in weeks. Work, life, Yuki leaving, Grandpa Roman. everything had just made things complicated.Grandpa Roman.The notion tugged at me again. I had finished my hospital shift at three. My plan had been simple: go on over to the nursing home, see Grandpa Roman, and then catch up with Dan at five. But as I stepped into the old folks' home, rain
PRETEND PRINCESS NOTHING LIKE I'M USED TO
Yuki's POVTo think that no one would prepare you for culture shock. It's not the major things that catch you. It's the little stupid, sorta terrifying details. Like public transportation. Like buses.I was standing in front of what I thought was the right bus stop, blinking at the brightly colored sign in Japanese. There were arrows. There were times. But there was also this little voice in my head going over and over, "Yuki, you're probably in the wrong place."Guess who was right? Not me. Absolutely not me.By the time I knew the buses here wouldn't stop unless you flagged them down like you were drowning, the one I was waiting for flew by with grand disdain. I was standing there like I was committing a dramatic anime opening with my white fur coat shining in the sunlight like I was out of a cosplay magazine. Wind cue. Panic cue inside.I was late to work. Not "fashionably late." Not "five minutes, still cool" late. Actual late. Like-the-office-was-already-roaring-already late.An
PRETEND PRINCESS CHEERFUL WORKDAY?
Yuki's PovThe scent was the first thing that hit me when I entered the building. Cool, lemon air freshener with a hint of cinnamon. The lighting was soft, not harsh, the floors clean but not sterile. If warmth had a form, it was here. My white fur coat billowed behind me as I moved, heels clicking on the tiles. I looked down at myself—black trousers, white boots, no wig, no disguise. It was strange, unreal. Almost as though I'd just stepped off a long, exhausting play. A six-month performance of someone who was never quite myself.The receptionist's chair was empty briefly before a round lady with puffy cheeks and bright blush waddled towards me like an overactive panda. Her eyes twinkled behind her spectacles, and her smile nearly reached her ears."Oh my God! My name is Sue!" she said, grasping both of my hands in hers. "You're Yuki, right? We're so happy you're here! Come, come, come, your desk is here."She didn't let go of my hand when she led me down the hallway, past some glas
PRETEND PRINCESS I MISS YOU
Creed's POVI stormed into the office.No. That wasn't it either.I walked in.Calm. Too level. The kind of level that came after a tsunami had destroyed a whole city. Nothing left to agitate. Nothing left to feel. Just ash and silence.The door slammed shut. The sound echoed like a gunshot inside my head. I didn't blink.I walked past the reception. My staff barely looked at me anymore. Some ran. Some whispered. Some stared with suspicious, questioning eyes. It didn't matter.I opened the door to my private office and entered the air-conditioned mausoleum of my kingdom. Neat. Quiet. Smelling of leather, citrus, and my last application of cologne. A fragrance I hadn't deemed worthy of wearing in four years.I dropped my briefcase. It landed on the floor with a thud that was louder than it should have been.I sat down. Carefully.There was no rush.There was no anything.My fingers wandered to the keyboard out of habit. Not intent. I stared at the screen for too long without registerin
