Not Everything Is As It Seems

"I limit our relationship to one-night passion. I have no need to bring you into my life." --- In an attempt to forget her lost love, Serena makes a passionate one-night stand with a stranger in Monaco. One night, one decision, one agreement, and one haunting memory. But as fate would have it, destiny has its own plans. The man who shared that passionate night turns out to be the CEO of her new workplace. Can Serena resist when passion and love conspire? Wait until she gets caught up in this unexpected tale of passion and intrigue. Serena and the CEO's lives will never be the same.

Tom Howard had spoiled Jane Lawson for more than 20 years. She had thought that they would naturally end up together, get married, have children, and live a happy life. Until one day, Tom brought a girl back and told her. "Jane, she's your sister-in-law."

Forced to marry in place of her older sister to pursue her dream of becoming a supermodel, Laura Brown lives in an empty marriage with William Anderson, a handsome CEO who has only Michelle Brown in his heart. For two years, Laura played her role as a wife to William, always trying to accept the marriage, even though William never appreciated everything she had done for him. Then, one night, while William was drunk, something unprecedented happened that would change everything. When Laura found out she was pregnant, she chose to keep it quiet because she thought William wouldn't admit it. So, Laura tried to make William love her. But everything changed when Michelle returned and played her dirty games to reclaim her position. Betrayal, slander, and divorce led Laura to leave, along with wounds and sincerity that were never considered. Will William find out Laura is pregnant with his child? Or... Will William still trust Michelle, the woman he loves?

Saraya’s life was a nightmare — trapped with an abusive mother, a cruel stepfather, and two stepbrothers who despised her. But when her stepfather tries to sell her, everything changes. Her brothers die saving her, and Saraya is kidnapped and sold at a dark auction. Just when all hope fades, she’s rescued by Rafael Blackthorn, the mysterious and powerful CEO of Blackthorn Incorporations. Living in his grand mansion, Saraya learns Rafael hides secrets of his own — a tragic past, a six-month-old son, and a world far beyond human understanding. What will happen when she'll know there is much more stored in her fate to know? Would she able to cope up or not?

At three in the morning, I was urgently called to an underground hospital in Verdanza to operate on the mafia Don's only son. But the man lying on the bed was my husband, the same man who had sworn before leaving that he was going on a business trip, promised he would drink less, and told me not to worry. Outside the operating room, a young woman clutched my sleeve and nearly broke down in tears. "Doctor, please save my fiancé! He got shot while protecting me. We can pay anything!" A well-dressed middle-aged woman quickly pulled her back. "Sylvia, calm down! Think about the baby." At that moment, I came to a horrifying realization. The man I had supported for ten years with my scalpel, the man I believed was bankrupt and drowning in debt… He was actually the heir to the biggest mafia family in Verdanza. And now, he had put himself in the ICU to protect another woman. I felt as though my heart had been ripped open. In our years together, we had once had a child. Back then, he had convinced me to terminate the pregnancy with the excuse that we were buried in debt and couldn't afford a baby. Yet now, another woman was carrying his child, surrounded by his family's protection and cherished like a priceless treasure. If that was how it was going to be, fine. After this surgery, everything Luca Colleone and I had together would be over. Ten years of history, wiped clean.

Albert Roosevelt was the crush I was never meant to have. Like an idiot, I believed loving someone meant giving them everything, even if they didn't care about you. So, I trailed after him like a desperate puppy, bending over backward to meet his every whim. When he couldn't afford tuition, I begged Dad to fund him, sending him to the best schools. When his worn-out clothes made him a laughingstock, I pitied him and showered him with designer labels. And what did he do? He used what I gave him to chase after a gold-digging campus belle. To keep up appearances, he blew through money like it grew on trees. He even spread rumors that he was the real heir to the Roosevelts. To him, I was just an ATM. "Your family's loaded. It's not like you'll miss a few hundred grand. If you're gonna be stingy, maybe you should stop following me around," he said when his wallet ran dry. And like a fool, I believed that if I kept paying, someday, he'd love me back. After graduation, I funded his startup. The second it took off, he married the campus belle. He had the nerve to claim he earned everything through nothing but hard work. So, I crashed his wedding, and he buried a knife in my chest. "Only when you're dead, Eve Roosevelt. Only then will my pathetic past stay buried." When I opened my eyes again, I was face-to-face with a scowling Albert. "You can't scrape together a few hundred thousand dollars? It's Bianca's birthday. Are you trying to humiliate me?" I looked around the room and rolled my eyes. "Sure, I'll pay. But first? Kneel. You look pretty enough. Consider it charity, peasant."

When 20 years old Ella Hart loses her father in a mysterious plane crash, she’s placed under the guardianship of James Callahan, her father’s best friend, a powerful man with dark eyes and even darker secrets. Who had been there for her for eleven years she lost her dad. At first, James is everything she needs: stable, protective, and oddly comforting. But as weeks turn into years under his roof, Ella begins to feel a pull she can’t explain. The air thickens between them glances turn into touches, and innocence burns into obsession. What starts as forbidden passion quickly spirals into something deeper and more dangerous. Ella finds herself caught in a web of emotional addiction, surrounded by luxury, lies, and a man who will do anything to keep her even if it means rewriting her past. But just when she thinks she knows the truth, a single discovery changes everything. Her father's death? Not an accident. And the child she’s carrying? Might not be James’s after all… One house. One secret. One man who swore to protect her but may have destroyed everything she ever loved.

Yuri Katakori is suffering from an illness—he is allergic to women due to trauma. He has everything that a man could want, except for love. He has given up on it until he saw Allyah Jane Fernandez, aka AJ. AJ has long forgotten what it feels like to be in love. The fairytales she believed in for so long has lost its spark. All she wants is to have a peaceful life in her comfort zone, her world without a man. But destiny is still working and did not give up on both of them. In an unexpected way… In an unexpected time of the day… The two people who lost their way in life unexpectedly met at the crossroad. AJ’s fate got tangled up with Yuri’s world—darkness, betrayal, secrets, pains, sufferings, and tragedies. Is she capable of giving Yuri the life he seek desperately for a long time? Or will she bring more trouble in his complicated life?

Lavender faced the ultimate betrayal after discovering that her fiancé, the man she loved most, had been using her all along. He had only dated her to seek revenge against her father and to claim everything her late mother had left her as a gift to his real fiancee. Devastated, Lavender lost everything she owned to him, and her family was plunged into dire poverty as a result. Heartbroken, she fled her past, running away from her disowned father and the agonizing pain. She dedicated her life to caring for the "blessings" her ex-fiancé had left behind. But just when Lavender thought she had found a measure of peace, everything starts falling apart again. Forced to reconcile with her ex, Lavender is torn—he is a changed man now, but to her, he remains an enemy. As her bottled-up emotions resurface, past cases reopening, and his persistent efforts to win back her affection intensify, how long can Lavender's hatred last? This book is part of a series but can be read as a standalone. Although reading this book will enlighten some parts of the second book "It Started With A Kiss". You can also find the second book on Goodnovel.

My ex-husband Giacomo and my brother's widow, Zoya, are the reason I went to prison. Seven years. Gone. I crunched leaves on the way to Carlo's grave and—of course—they're there. Together. Right in front of his headstone. "Jessica?" His voice shook. Fake surprise. He wiped his eye like that meant something. "I've been looking for you for seven years. I thought you... were gone. "Where have you been all these years? Why didn't you ever contact me?" I said nothing. He kept going. "You're still mad about what happened? I had my reasons." 'Reasons?' I looked at him. Almost laughed. He and Carlo's woman killed Carlo. Framed me, kicked me out, and sent me to prison. He took half my life. And now he's talking about reasons—standing at Carlo's grave. But seven years of torment burned everything down. Love. Hate. All of it.