Illusion

Rivergate's most elite social circle had always shared an unspoken rule. Men were free to play the field as they pleased, drifting from one woman to the next. Women, on the other hand, were only allowed a single, discreet indulgence on the day they came of age—a privately hired "life assistant" meant to take care of their physical needs. … On my coming-of-age day, I picked Elliot at first glance from a hundred applicants who came in for interviews. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, looked composed and restrained, and carried himself with a calm maturity that set him apart. He was steady, meticulous, and obsessively clean. The only condition he agreed to was that there would be no bodily contact—hands only. And after every encounter, he would scrub his hands with disinfectant alcohol a hundred times. Over five years, the empty bottles alone were enough to circle the villa seven times. I used to think that one day, I'd help him overcome his barriers and truly make him mine. That illusion shattered the night I got drunk and accidentally wandered into Elliot's room. Hidden beneath his pillow was a DV camera, and inside were several videos of him pleasuring himself. On the screen, the same man who had always been calm and rational with me was staring at the lingerie of the adopted sister who had caused my mother's death, his Adam's apple bobbing as he moaned her name, "Chloe… I love you…" Only then did I realize that every step he had taken toward me had never been about me at all. It had always been a carefully concealed, long-nurtured love for her. So, it was very odd that he cried when I took my adopted sister's place in marrying someone else.

Elena Marlowe never imagined one night could change everything. At a mask gala event, she let herself forget the rules of her life. One dance led to one kiss... and then a night she swore would never leave the shadows. She didn't even know his name... only the storm in his grey eyes and the way he made her feel like someone else for once, like someone free. But secrets have a way of catching up. Weeks later, two pink lines shatter her illusion of escape. With no way to find the man who disappeared with the dawn, Elena chooses silence. She walks away from the life she knew, determined to protect her baby and her heart. Until fate intervenes. Her new job is a lifeline, a chance to start over. But her new boss? Cassian Wolfe, The Billionaire CEO. Who is sharp, ruthless and unmistakably the man from that night. He doesn't recognize her or so she hopes. But Cassian Wolfe didn't build an empire by being blind. The moment Elena steps into his office, something shifts. A flicker of familiarity. A tension neither of them can name. Elena fights to keep her secret buried. Cassian fights to uncover it. But when the truth begins to unravel, lines blur in between past and present, between power and vulnerability, between fear and the one thing Elena vowed never to feel again: love. Now Cassian wants answers. He wants control. And maybe... just maybe, he wants her. But some secrets are too big to stay hidden. And some hearts are too fragile to risk shattering again. Will Elena protect the life she's built? Or will the father of her child claim more than just the truth?

"What you loved, my fair lady. wasn't me, but an illusion, a lie you were so eager to believe". his smile didn't reach his ears as he looked at her, noticing the amount of pain and betrayal her face carried."Can you say that you still love me now? The real me, with all my ugliness? can you still look over everything I've done to you and say that you love me?". He searched her eyes, hoping to find even a shred of love left in them. But just as he expected, there was none for he had destroyed it all with his own cruel hands."And now what?" "Now, It is Goodbye...", He said as he placed her on the ground, "Go back to your life, the one you had before me. Forget the the beautiful lies, forget the monstrous truths, forget me and live." Taking few steps away, she watched him carefully, afraid of the fact it might be but another trap, seeing he didn't make any moves towards her, she turned around, ready to leave but she felt his iron grip back on her arm before she was pulled into a desperate, bittersweet .*********Born as an illegitimate daughter of the King, sent away to live among the priests, Sara had a dull and meaningless life, believing she was a hidden disgrace, a black page in her father's honorable history, but her life was turned upside down when she decides to look for some answers about her true identity, and she finds herself in a journey of love, survival, secrets and heartbreaks, especially when she falls into the clutches of a demon lord who tells her she is the quill that would write the rest of their world's history...Disclaimer : I don't own the cover

"I have chosen not to go through with it," I told the twins. Surprisingly, they didn't appear perturbed by my decision to forgo any romantic involvement with them. "My dear, sweet Lily," Hayden's voice resonated with a blend of authority and allure, "while we may have presented you with the illusion of choice regarding our relationship, it was never truly yours to dictate, especially after we've discerned the alluring taste between your thighs." His words, though startling, carried an undeniable magnetism, drawing me closer despite my inner resistance. I didn't fail to notice how Hunter was now closely behind me as well. "B-but this isn't right, and I have the right to decide what's best for me." Hunter had now circled his arms around my waist, kissing my neck deviously from behind, the sensuous feeling filling the pit of my stomach. Raising my head to look me in the eye, Hayden spoke. "There's nothing wrong with fulfilling one's desires, Lily. From now on, Hunter and I will be the ones to satisfy your every need. You belong to us, and no one else." *************** Lily's world is turned upside down after a wild night at the club leads to a sizzling one-night stand with a mysterious stranger, who turns out to be her billionaire boss, one of a set of irresistible twins. As she embraces her new role as their personal assistant, Lily finds herself engulfed in a whirlwind of passion, jealousy, and desire, all while grappling with her conflicting emotions for her friend Dillon. With tensions escalating and desires burning hotter, Lily is torn between the safety of her comfort zone and the thrilling temptation of the billionaire twins, risking everything for a taste of forbidden ecstasy.

Santa Maria Deogracia. Despite being given that name, she is not filled with grace, and she is far from holy.  She is feral, rebellious and arrogant. She felt unfortunate her whole life. Poor and born from an affair between her father and his mistress. A child that no one wanted. A bastard hated by the legal family.  But her life took an unexpected turn when she got entangled with a man called Hellion. Witnessing a gruesome crime and the next thing she knew, she was already under him, moaning, catching her breath while chanting his name—spending a hot night with an enigmatic drop dead gorgeous man with a dangerous allure and piercing stares that weakened her knees. Only to find out the next morning that he is actually that infamous ruthless billionaire, 15 years older than her at that; Lazarus Lombardi.  With her life filled with twists and turns, she never expected to get entangled with him even more when he offered her a job—to be his sex slave. Having a secret relationship, that is wrong yet it felt so right—he became her solace.  Desperate to escape in her toxic home, she married him eventually, thinking that it was the right decision.  Or so she thought. . .  Little does she know, her decision is merely an illusion, shattering her newfound happiness. As she delves deeper into the darkness lurking within him—Unveiling the truth, secrets and betrayals. . .  Leading her to escape from his suffocating grasp.  Santa Maria thought she had finally escaped his clutches, only to find herself entangled in his web once more, years later. And escaping him again is the furthest thing from his mind, not with the obsessive mafia boss; Lazarus Lombardi. Will she ever break free from his grip? or will she remain forever trapped in his twisted embrace?

So... Lagi siyang nandito sa lugar na to? Since when... Kailan pa nila ako niloloko? As they turned to leave, I struggled, screamed, but they didn't look back. "Tulong!" "Jackson, Pakiusap lumingon ka. Nandito ako!" My eyes cried out for help, even in my helplessness, but no one turned around. Betrayed and abandoned, I'm paralyzed by the impossible choice of what to prioritize. "I'm so helpless." Therra Mina Miller thought she had finally found the love she always wanted. But her seemingly perfect life with Jackson Park, the heir to Astine Corporation, was nothing more than a cruel illusion created by her greedy family. Their dream wedding was just a way to further their own selfish desires. Ang pagtataksil ng kanyang stepsister na si Nicole Smith kay Jackson, at ang lihim na relasyon nito sa kanyang fiancé, ay nagdulot kay Mina ng matinding sakit at pagkadismaya. Sa gitna ng kanyang paghihirap, isang lihim na relasyon ang umusbong sa pagitan nina Mina at Matthias Park, ang foster father ni Jackson. Their relationship became her strength, driving her to stand on her own and break free from her family’s control. She swore to succeed on her own terms, refusing to let her family’s power shape her future. Her success became the ultimate sweet revenge, exposing Nicole’s lies and taking back her life. Pero paano kung ang inaakala niyang katapusan ng kanyang paghihirap mula sa pang-aabuso ng mga nasa paligid niya ay simula pa lang—the beginning of a truth about herself she never knew? Mananatili ba siyang kalmado, o maghihiganti sa mga taong dapat managot?

At twenty-eight, I held the dubious honor of being the last unmarried socialite on New York's Upper East Side. Everyone around me was growing increasingly anxious about my single status. In my previous life, my mother arranged a matchmaking cocktail party, where I was told to choose a husband from ten handpicked elite bachelors. I bribed the event planner to place Mark West's profile at the very top—and as I had hoped, I chose him. After we married, Mark treated me with what seemed like tender affection. He even bought me an oceanfront villa in the Hamptons, making me believe I had finally found true love. But that illusion shattered the day I was nine months pregnant, just hours away from giving birth. Mark drove a scalpel straight into my abdomen—then, right in front of me, hurled our newborn onto the floor. "If you hadn't forced me into this marriage with your family's power, Sofia wouldn't have been heartbroken enough to go drinking and get drugged and assaulted. This… this is what you owe her!" He tossed the scalpel aside, then calmly let his private doctor pin down my blood-soaked body. I fought through excruciating pain for six agonizing hours, until I finally bled to death. Afterward, Mark dumped my corpse into the Hudson River. But for Sofia, he hosted a grand funeral—funded with my money, under my name—and paraded himself to the world as a grieving, devoted widower. Given a second chance at life, I refused to step foot in that cursed matchmaking event. Instead, I went straight to my mother with a demand: marry me to Robert Black—the most ruthless, cold-blooded titan of Wall Street, whose scarred face was feared by all. In the end, stripped of my financial backing, Mark's hedge fund collapsed. He became a disgraced fraudster, spat on by everyone on Wall Street.

J'étais une gamine des bas-fonds quand je suis tombée amoureuse de Damon Vitale, le Parrain le plus redouté de Paris. Pendant cinq ans, j'ai été à lui. J'ai encaissé neuf balles pour lui. Il embrassait mes cicatrices pendant que je me vidais de mon sang pour lui. Il me serrait contre lui. Il passait le collier de la reine autour de mon cou. Puis, une fois remise, il me baisait jusqu'à me faire perdre toute notion de moi-même, avec une passion qui donnait l'illusion de l'éternité. Je croyais que nous passerions nos vies ensemble. Je pensais qu'il m'épouserait. Mais lors de notre neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuvième nuit ensemble, il m'a annoncé qu'il était fiancé. À Bianca, une princesse de la mafia issue d'une famille rivale. J'ai avalé mes larmes. Il s'est contenté de m'attraper par le menton, de souffler la fumée à mon visage et de rire. « Tu n'as quand même pas cru que tu pourrais m'épouser, n'est-ce pas, Nora ? Soyons clairs. On baise. C'est tout. Tu n'es pas une partenaire. Tu es une œuvre d'art que je collectionne. Une chatte qui m'appartient. » Une chatte. C'est tout ce qu'il a jamais voulu que je sois. Alors j'ai attrapé un téléphone jetable. « J'accepte ton offre. Trois jours. Sors-moi de Paris. »

After my brother, Don Matteo Sabella, finds out I have a crush on our family Consigliere, Lorenzo Gallo, for years, he spikes Lorenzo's wine and has him delivered to my bed. That night, he pushes deep into me, and we lose ourselves in each other. When the sky begins to lighten, Lorenzo stays, kisses my temple, and asks me to marry him. Now that we are married, he is all those things—gentle, perfect, and fiercely possessive—handing me almost everything I desire. I truly believe I've landed the kind of love every woman in our world dreams about. That illusion lasts until the day Matteo gets taken out in an assassination. After that, Lorenzo steps up as the Sabellas' new Don. It isn't long before he says he has family business to handle and disappears overseas for three years. Even on the day I deliver our daughter, Luna Gallo, he can't come home because of some emergency. Then I hear a recording that's blowing up on the family's internal network. His Consigliere chuckles and asks, "Don, what do you think has changed the most since you took over the family?" Lorenzo answers in this offhand tone, "It's definitely the fact that I can finally give those I care about most a home. But it also means I'm even more worried that Eliana and Sofia will be targeted because of me…" My blood runs cold. Eliana Rossi is his adopted sister, and Sofia is her daughter. Turns out every business trip, every absence, every so-called emergency Lorenzo has is about them. He has another home out there. That night, with my hands shaking, I dial the encrypted line. "Matteo, we've found the traitor. Isn't it time you stopped pretending to be dead and came to take Luna and me away?"

Als ich versuchte, eine neue Gefährtenurkunde zu beantragen, teilte mir die Abteilung für Werwolfangelegenheiten mit: „Deine Gefährtenurkunde ist gefälscht. Bei uns gibt es keine Registrierung auf deinen Namen.“ Ungläubig fragte ich nach: „Sam und ich haben uns doch vor fünf Jahren registrieren lassen. Das kann doch nicht sein! Bitte überprüfen Sie das noch einmal…“ Der Sachbearbeiter durchforstete erneut unsere Daten. „Die Akte von Alpha Sam habe ich gefunden, aber als registrierte Partnerin ist nicht dein Name eingetragen.“ Mit zitternder Stimme fragte ich weiter: „Wen hat Sam denn offiziell als Gefährtin eingetragen?“ „Lily“, antwortete der Beamte ehrlich. Ich klammerte mich krampfhaft an der Stuhllehne fest, um nicht das Gleichgewicht zu verlieren. Bis zu dem Moment, in dem er Lilys Namen nannte, hatte ich noch gehofft, es handle sich um ein Missverständnis. Aber ausgerechnet sie—Sams Jugendfreundin! In dem Augenblick, in dem ich die Wahrheit erfuhr, ergab plötzlich alles einen Sinn. Fünf Jahre lang war ich Sams Gefährtin, doch er hatte mich nie markiert. Vor fünf Jahren hatten wir lediglich eine Paarungszeremonie abgehalten. Ich war voller Vorfreude gewesen, hatte mich auf ein gemeinsames Leben gefreut—und am Ende stellte sich heraus, dass die Gefährtenurkunde gefälscht war. Die Verbindung, für die ich einst alles aufgegeben hatte, die fünf Jahre des vermeintlichen Glücks—alles war nichts weiter als eine Illusion! Da all das nicht mir gehörte, blieb mir nichts anderes übrig, als zu gehen.