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Chapter 45: Shattered Thrones
Last Updated:
2025-10-20 23:12:25
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Pretend to Be Mine Chapter 47: When Towers Tremble
Walter Crane must have slept well that night. I couldn’t imagine a man like him resting without some scheme rattling in his head—plans for collapse, for ruin. When the first light touched the city, his plan hit like an avalanche.I woke to Adrian’s phone vibrating in a rhythm that said panic long before I caught the words. The air felt off—too still, like the city itself was holding its breath. He stood at the window, already dressed, the morning cutting his face into angles sharper than I’d ever seen. He answered call after call without looking at me.“What’s happening?” I pulled my robe tighter, hoping maybe if I clung to something familiar the world would remain steady.His voice had a quiet in it that made my stomach drop. “Stock crash.”My brain lagged. “What do you mean—stock crash?”He turned and I saw the dark that wasn’t in his eyes alone. “Walter Crane orchestrated a leak. Confidential reports, fabricated losses, whispers of fraud. Investors are panicking. Harrington Tower’s
Pretend to Be Mine CHAPTER 46: The Edge of the Fall
The world outside Harrington Tower looked calm, but inside me, everything was burning. My phone buzzed nonstop—messages, calls, updates from Marcus—but none of it mattered. All I could think about was the way Adrian’s name had flooded the headlines again.Another storm. Another war. Another attempt to break us.I stared at my reflection in the mirror, the woman looking back at me almost unrecognizable. My eyes had dark circles under them; my hair, once perfectly styled, now hung in soft waves around my shoulders. I looked like someone who hadn’t slept in days. And the truth was—I hadn’t.Adrian had been at the tower since dawn, fighting the board and the investors who were ready to gut him alive. Every time I thought things couldn’t get worse, Walter Crane found another way to tighten the knife.Maya’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “You’re shaking again,” she said softly, holding out a mug of tea.I took it, forcing a smile. “Thank you, baby.”She sat beside me, eyes full of worry
Pretend to Be Mine Chapter 45: Shattered Thrones
The city looked calm that morning, but I knew better. Storms don’t always start with thunder. Sometimes, they begin with silence—quiet, heavy, suffocating.I woke before dawn, my body aching from exhaustion I couldn’t sleep off. The penthouse was too quiet. Adrian hadn’t come to bed last night. Again. The space beside me was cold, the sheets untouched, as if even rest had become a luxury we couldn’t afford.I made my way downstairs, my robe brushing against the marble floor. The soft hum of the city seeped through the glass walls, distant and uncaring. For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the skyline that once looked like promise. Now it looked like a battlefield.Adrian was already in the study, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie discarded, eyes bloodshot but burning with focus. Papers were scattered across the table like fallen soldiers.“You haven’t slept,” I said quietly.He didn’t look up. “Neither have you.”I took a step closer. “What are you working on now?”“Trying to keep
Pretend to Be Mine Chapter 44 — The Fall Before the Storm
Walter Crane sat in his office that night, lights dimmed, whiskey in hand. I could almost imagine him there — savoring his next move while the rest of us tried to breathe again. Savannah, no doubt, perched on his desk like she owned the room, scrolling through her phone with that snake-slick smile.“She’s untouchable in the court of sympathy now,” he must’ve muttered, his voice low and bitter.And he was right. For once, the world was starting to see me not as the villain, but as a woman standing her ground. My name was trending with words like bravery and strength instead of scandal. But Walter wasn’t the kind of man who lost gracefully. I knew that too well.Savannah probably leaned forward then, eyes glinting. “If we can’t destroy Elena, we destroy Adrian. Take away her shield, and she’ll crumble on her own.”And that’s exactly what they did.The next morning, I woke to chaos. My phone buzzed nonstop. Notifications exploded one after another. When I opened the first headline, my st
Pretend to Be Mine Chapter 43: The Price of Victory
The victory barely lasted three days.I had just begun to breathe again—just started to believe that maybe, just maybe, the world was tilting in my favor—when the headlines hit like knives.“Maya Ramirez: Harrington’s Protected Pet?”“Anonymous Sources Claim Maya Uses Adrian Harrington’s Name for Privilege.”“School Scandal: Did Ramirez Sister Cheat Her Way In?”By noon, my phone wouldn’t stop vibrating. Every article twisted reality until I barely recognized the truth. Each lie was crafted so carefully, like poison meant to sink deep under our skin.When I finally found Maya, she was sitting on the couch, laptop open, eyes wide and glassy. Her hands trembled so hard I thought she’d drop the screen.“They’re calling me a parasite,” she whispered, voice shaking. “They’re saying I don’t deserve to be here.”Something inside me cracked. “Maya, don’t read that garbage. It’s all lies.”But even as I said it, the words felt empty. Because I knew the truth — once lies caught fire online, no
Pretend to Be Mine Chapter 42: When Empires Bleed
Walter Crane sat in his office, lights dimmed, whiskey glinting in a crystal glass. The faint hum of the city rose from below—cars, sirens, and the occasional echo of life—but inside, everything was still. Power had a sound, and tonight, Walter couldn’t hear it anymore.Savannah perched gracefully on the edge of his desk, her legs crossed, her smile sharpened like a blade. Her phone’s glow reflected off her eyes as she scrolled through the morning headlines—every one of them stamped with the same image. Elena Ramirez: The Woman Who Rose from Scandal.Walter’s jaw flexed. “She’s untouchable now,” he muttered, the words biting. “Every blow we land turns into a badge of sympathy.”“She’s good,” Savannah said lazily, scrolling. “But we’ve been playing the wrong game. You can’t destroy someone the public pities. You destroy the person protecting her. You take down Adrian Harrington, and Elena will collapse on her own.”Walter lifted his eyes, slow and dangerous. “You want to make her bleed
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