Just An Illusion

Who would have thought that one disastrous night could bind two strangers in a contract neither saw coming? Everlyn Ateya Wangari thought she had it all—a stable job, a loving boyfriend, and a future she had fought hard for. But that illusion shattered the moment she walked in on the man she had sacrificed everything for, tangled in the arms of another woman—her biggest rival at work. Betrayed and heartbroken, she storms out, only to stumble upon a high-stakes deal that has nothing to do with business and everything to do with revenge. Kurtis Otias, Nairobi’s most elusive billionaire bachelor and the newly appointed CEO of her company, is a man who never begs—except now. With a billion-dollar merger hanging by a thread, he needs a wife, and he needs one fast. A chance encounter. A reckless offer. A contract signed in desperation. One seeks power. The other seeks payback. But neither of them anticipated the one thing they couldn’t control—**love and obsession.** When emotions start to blur the lines of their cold arrangement, will they walk away unscathed, or will they destroy each other in a game where the rules were never meant to be fair?

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.

“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?

As the daughter of the Shadow Pack’s Beta, I was born with power, grace, and devotion. Justin, the future Alpha of the pack, was hailed as my fated mate from the moment our paths crossed. I once believed that we were meant to be. With the Moon Goddess bringing us together through a mate bond, even death could not tear us apart. Yet, the illusion was shattered three years ago. Justin pushed me away time and again in the name of repaying an obligation to Marissa, a rogue, for saving his life. Everything that should have been ours, he gave to her, be it our home, title, and our life plans together—all because she said she wasn’t happy. By the ninety-ninth time, the debt of gratitude was finally repaid. I stood at the mating ceremony venue in my gown, filled with anticipation that he would mark me. Alas, all my waiting ended with the news that he had given Marissa a top-tier moonstone, symbolizing eternal love. In that moment, all the pain I had held back came crashing down. My wolf howled in my mind with a voice so primal and sad. For once, I didn’t silence her. I believed it was time to make room for Justin and his lifesaver.

After transferring to an isolated private Academy on his best friends request, Jason steps into a world he never expected to be in. Dealing with flirty teachers and students is a normal occurrence and one he's been good at forever because all his life he’s distanced himself from the illusion of love. Until he meets her. The Aloof Mystery Student. Never before has his resolve been tested in such a way and he finds himself disturbed by her presence and the strange familiar calmness she brings him. Are the strings of fate being mischievous? Could a teacher x student relationship be his downfall? For as long as Atlas could remember, her life's been a series of hurdles and vast walls she had to overcome. After the death of her Grandmother, she's thrown into a game orchestrated by her selfish father. She must fight not only the hatred of her brother, but the disapproving adults all around her. Meeting the annoying Jason Fairchild throws everything off the rails and she finally finds herself. Together, they stand a greater chance to overcome all internal and external wars they've been fighting. Will they be victorious or succumb to the harsh fates that have been written for them? Only Silence will tell...

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.

Ethan Carter, a socially awkward and bookish young man, moves into a run-down apartment in the city, hoping for a quiet and uneventful life. But his world is turned upside down when he meets his neighbor—Sienna, a mesmerizing, confident woman with an intoxicating aura. From the moment he lays eyes on her, he's smitten. She’s everything he isn’t—bold, beautiful, and effortlessly seductive. As Ethan struggles with his feelings, he begins noticing strange things: the way men come and go from Sienna’s apartment, the way she dresses provocatively at odd hours, and the soft, intimate sounds that seep through the thin walls at night. But he convinces himself that it’s all in his head. One night, however, the illusion shatters. When Sienna forgets to fully close her door, Ethan sees the truth with his own eyes—she’s with a client. The shock leaves him reeling. But instead of disgust, his fascination deepens. Why does she do this? Is there something more beneath her exterior? And most importantly—can love exist between two people from such different worlds? Ethan’s desire soon turns into obsession, and as he delves deeper into Sienna’s life, secrets unravel that neither of them are prepared to face.

Nova Pearl Laurent a 21 year old woman, an underground fighter who was released from juvenile prison 3 years ago, her life changes drastically when she's called back to the country by her mother who had long abandoned her. She is faced by the truth that her twin sister Reverie Rye Laurent had been in a car accident and is now in coma. Her mother orders her to take Reverie's place as the wife of Aeros Ian Valencia. The Valencia family once saved the Laurent corporation from going bankrupt, the heir of Valencia family Aeros was forced to marry Reverie. He bears seething hatred towards Reverie and treats her as she was nonexistent to him. Nova who is now pretending to be Reverie his wife wants to revenge her beloved sister who suffered by the hands of this cruel man. But fate has unexpected plans for her, the cold and ruthless Aeros starts to fall for her. She must play her part well and when it's time for her to leave she must end the play, but what happens when she develops strange feelings for the man who is her sister's husband? "It was supposed to be an act, I'm a mere illusion of her, his substitute wife, I'm forbidden from having such feelings towards him"

Lilia Morgan spent her whole life forging her own path, determined never to be a pawn in anyone’s game. But when a long-buried engagement agreement forces her into marriage with Damian Crawford—the cold, calculating heir to an empire—her carefully built independence begins to slip through her fingers. She refuses to surrender. Determined to escape, she strikes a deal with the devil himself: one year in his world, and if she can settle her family’s debt before time runs out, she walks away—no strings attached. But Damian never makes a deal he doesn’t intend to win. For years, he has watched her from a distance, knowing she was meant to be his. Now, with Lilia trapped in his orbit, he will use every opportunity to remind her that control is an illusion—and in his world, she belongs to him. As corporate warfare, long-buried betrayals, and the ghosts of their pasts threaten to tear them apart, Lilia and Damian are drawn into a dangerous battle—one where power, passion, and obsession collide. But when desire turns into something far more dangerous, Lilia must decide: is Damian her greatest enemy, or the only man who was ever meant to stand by her side? A gripping enemies-to-lovers romance with ruthless power struggles, slow-burning intensity, and a billionaire who refuses to lose. Love and war have never been so intoxicating—but in this game, only one of them can walk away unscathed.

Ever wonder what you gonna do if you were born with a twisted fate of having more than one true mate? Elysian Jordan was born as a lowly Omega and went through torture, heartbreak and abuse all her life for a reason she was not responsible for. She had only one hope at life and that was to find her mate along with true love. That's when fate started to play with her by bringing different men in her life. Lorcan Leonore. The Alpha of the deadliest pack Vaughan. The one who was ready to fight with his life for her. Adrian Storm. The being powerful than all other beings. A legend they only heard about. The Mighty Water Serpent. Vincent Witson. The Beta. The secret keeper. Taylor Stannkus. The Gamma. The one who is underestimated but he is the king maker. And Cade Jo, one Mystical being. The one who has mysteries as his second skin. In this twisted game fate was playing with her, who was her true mate and destiny? Admist finding the true love she desired, what will happen if she finds out that she was not what she thought she was for her whole life? What if she was the legend of the Pearl Dragon? In this struggle between finding her true destiny and love, she might end up finding the reason of her existence. A fight between love, Illusion, Power and Responsibility will break out in which only one will survive.