Ateez #illusion

She wanted the life. The money. The power. The man. Mara Collins is tired of counting tips and pretending her dreams don’t reach beyond the coffee shop counter. When the bills pile higher than her hope, she decides it’s time to stop waiting for luck—and start creating it. All she needs is one man. One chance. One lie. Her plan is simple: learn how the rich play their games, then beat them at it. With a fake designer dress, a new name, and a heart of steel, she slips into the city’s most exclusive events—until she catches the eye of Adrian Holt, a man who has everything she’s ever wanted. Charming. Ruthless. Obsessively private. Adrian isn’t the kind of man you play with… but Mara’s willing to risk everything to make him hers. But the higher she climbs, the more fragile her lies become. And when Adrian discovers who she truly is, the illusion shatters—leaving behind nothing but betrayal, anger, and obsession… and a love that should never have existed in the first place. Now love becomes a weapon, and every night in his sheets feels like a war between truth and desire.

When Elena Russo's husband, the formidable mafia boss Lorenzo Russo, is brutally murdered, her life is shattered. But as she delved deeper into his past, she began to doubt all she thought she knew about him. Secrets emerge—dangerous ones—and she wonders if she ever truly knew the man she married. With each discovery, the distinctions between love, treachery, and revenge become less clear. Adrian DeLuca, a powerful rival with a personal vendetta, becomes the prime suspect. He not only owned a stake in Lorenzo’s casino but had a heated confrontation with him just a day before his death. But Adrian has his own demons—forever haunted by his mother’s brutal murder at the hands of his father’s enemies. Determined to prove himself to the man who never saw him as enough, Adrian sees Elena as both a key to the truth and the woman he’s secretly desired for years. With the truth emerging and unseen foes waiting in the shadows, Elena must decide if she can trust Adrian to help her solve the mystery of Lorenzo's death. But as the truth emerges, it threatens to shatter the illusion of the man she once loved, forcing her to choose between vengeance, survival, and a passion she never expected.

In the high-stakes world of Thorne Global, Julian Thorne is a man who calculates every move, valuing cold efficiency over the unpredictability of human emotion. But one night at a high-society masquerade ball, his world is upended by a magnetic encounter with a woman in a silver mask. Elena Vance, posing as her twin sister Layla to settle a family debt, never intended for their anonymous connection to become anything more than a single, electric memory. The illusion shatters two months later when Elena discovers she is pregnant. Before she can find a way to tell the mystery man from the ball, Julian finds her. He believes she is Layla—the social climber he once despised—and is stunned by the "new," grounded woman standing before him. When the truth of the pregnancy comes to light, Julian demands a contractual cohabitation to protect his legacy, unaware that the woman he is falling for is living under a stolen identity. As the pregnancy progresses, the ice around Julian’s heart begins to melt, but the web of lies Elena has spun grows increasingly fragile. Between a blackmailing debt collector, a vengeful twin sister, and corporate rivals looking for any sign of weakness, the stakes have never been higher. When Elena finally confesses her true identity, the fallout is catastrophic, forcing them both to decide if their connection was built on a lie or something far more enduring.

“You took a photo of me without my permission.” “Then why do you look like you want to be seen?” Elliot Marlowe is a struggling photographer living paycheck to paycheck in a tiny New York apartment. One accidental photo in Central Park changes everything—a haunting shot of a mysterious, brooding man who turns out to be none other than Damien Whitlock, the untouchable billionaire tech mogul with a reputation as cold as his fortune. Instead of suing, Damien makes Elliot an offer: become his personal photographer. It's the beginning of a dangerous game—one filled with stolen glances, unspoken truths, and a fake relationship meant to protect Damien’s public image. But behind Damien’s icy exterior lies an artist scarred by betrayal, and behind Elliot’s lens is a man desperate to feel seen for the first time. As the line between performance and passion begins to blur, secrets unravel. A fake kiss becomes real. A lie about love becomes a truth too big to silence. And when heartbreak and ambition threaten to tear them apart, both must choose between fear and vulnerability, between survival and surrender. In a world where image is everything, can two men find the courage to be each other’s truth? Or will the picture-perfect illusion destroy them both?

Three years ago, I rescued the CEO of the Patton Group. That very night, he appeared at my door with his grandson and proposed marriage. I'd secretly loved the young man for seven long years, so I accepted it without hesitation. For three blissful years, Damian Patton showered me with affection so profound it sparked envy in everyone around us. But the illusion shattered when the Patton family's adopted daughter returned from abroad. I stumbled upon him cradling her tenderly and whispering words of devotion. "Grandpa won't hand over the company until Serena gives birth to an heir. But I don't care about inheritance anymore. I want to marry you now." Harriet Patton's lips curved into a sultry smile. "No rush, darling. I want you to marry me as the rightful heir to the Patton empire. Just promise me you won't fall for her." His eyes softened. "Seven years ago, you pulled me out of that fire. I swore then to love you forever." Those words crashed over me like an avalanche, burying my heart under a crushing weight of betrayal. His love for me had been all a lie. I was the one who had braved those flames to save him. It was not her.

“You can’t love me. We can’t be together. It will ruin my career. It will ruin my life!” That’s what Kayla Danes told Corvin Marlowe when their relationship started becoming real. As one of the country’s most beloved actresses, Kayla was bound by a strict contract–one that required her to maintain the illusion of romance with her loveteam partner who used to be her real boyfriend, Derek Boyles. Her fame was built on that loveteam, and her fans worshipped the fantasy they created. Loving someone else wasn’t just discouraged. It was forbidden. Corvin, a billionaire hotel tycoon, promises he’ll take care of her, even pay the penalty if she breaks the contract. But Kayla has worked hard for her career. It’s everything to her, and she refuses to lose it because of a love she isn’t supposed to have. But after that one night with Corvin and more unexpected meetings afterward, staying away becomes harder and harder. Things get even worse when Derek finds out about their secret relationship. Out of jealousy or spite, and wanting all the sympathy for himself, he reveals everything and turns it into a scandal that puts Kayla in an even tougher spot. Now, Kayla has to make a choice: Her career or the man she loves. But is she ready to let go of either one?

In the sterile, glass-and-steel heart of Thorne Tower, Lyra Belcourt is a woman with a secret mission. To the world, she is a brilliant auditor sent to dissect the crumbling financial empire of the enigmatic Silas Thorne. To Silas, she is the first person in years who doesn't flinch at his cold, calculated dominance. Driven by a dark, magnetic attraction, Silas offers her a deal: absolute access to his ledgers in exchange for absolute submission to his "Protocol"—a rigid lifestyle contract governing her every move, breath, and thought. As Lyra enters the "Obsidian Room," the story unfolds as a high-stakes game of power and sensory exploration. However, the deeper she sinks into Silas’s world, the more the reality around them begins to fracture. Silas is plagued by "glitches" in his memory and a haunting sense of deja vu, while Lyra is secretly recording his every physiological response. The corporate war with the ruthless Caspian Vane is merely a distraction from the terrifying truth hidden within the Gilded Ledger. The ultimate "mind-blowing" twist reveals that the "Thorne Protocol" isn't a game of lust, but a psychological simulation. Silas is a personality construct built by Lyra herself to replace a broken man named Leo. In a final, heart-stopping revelation, the readers discover that even Lyra’s control is an illusion—they are both trapped in a digital "Mirror Image" loop where their roles as Master and Servant are programmed to reset forever.

The game: Mafia. The rules: Lies are required, deceit is essential, betrayal is highly encouraged. Who wins? The remaining one left at the top. Who loses? The one who falls in love first. Eirene Evander's identity had always been kept a secret, her family made sure of that. Since she could remember, she was trained in the art of illusion and deception. But a tragic event led her to run off and enlist in the Marines as Rein. Now that she’s come home, it’s time to see what the mafia’s up to these days. Will pretending to be a man help with her mission for the military? Will she finally find the truth about her father’s death? Or will it lead to her demise just like her predecessor? Delian Leofric is a calculated, mean-spirited brute. Every person he meets would warn others to avoid even just a glimpse of his shadow. But what they don’t know is that he’s more than that. Now that he’s about to become the mob leader, will he turn things around? Or in the end, will he be swallowed up and forced to do their bidding until he’s replaced by another? A vengeful soldier, a puppet mob king, with all the other players from the underground organization and more. These combinations may just bring tragic deaths, unexpected greatness, or maybe a concoction of both.

For five years, Marco Falcone was the perfect man. Or so I thought. The illusion shattered on the night of our engagement party, when his mistress crashed it, a five-year-old boy in tow. The boy ran straight to Marco, crying, "Daddy! Daddy, I finally found you!" It had to be some kind of sick joke. But then Marco turned to me, his voice stripped of all warmth. "This is my son, Leo. A… mistake Sofia and I made five years ago." "Leo is the Falcone heir. I have to legitimize them. That means I'll be engaged to Sofia first." "But Lydia, believe me, I still love you. We can have our engagement party in six months. You're going to be the Donna of the Falcone family. I expect you to be generous and understanding. This is non-negotiable." I laughed, a cold, sharp sound, and slid the engagement ring off my finger. My eyes scanned the room and locked on the man in the corner—Lorenzo Moretti, the most powerful Don in New York. He held another title, one only I knew: the man who’d been trying to make me his. "Don Moretti," I called out, my voice clear and steady. "I find myself in need of a new fiancé. Are you interested?"

Résumé : Pendant des années, Myriam a vécu dans l’illusion d’un mariage parfait avec Idriss, un homme respecté et attentionné. Mais derrière ce masque de mari fidèle se cache une vérité insoutenable : Idriss mène une triple vie. À l’autre bout de la ville, Anastasie, la seconde femme, pense être la préférée. Et Aïshe, la plus jeune, attend avec espoir le départ à l’étranger promis par l’homme qu’elle croit être son seul et unique époux. Chacune aime Idriss. Chacune l’appelle « mon mari ». Mais aucune ne connaît toute la vérité… jusqu’à ce que le mensonge éclate et que le destin les réunisse d’une manière inattendue. Un roman choral bouleversant, où les voix de ces trois femmes s’entrelacent pour dévoiler la trahison, le doute, la douleur… mais aussi la force et la solidarité féminine face à l’impensable.