Pretended Synonyms

It was only after my boyfriend, Julian Mercer, received his HIV diagnosis that he finally understood what his childhood friend, Luna Sullivan, truly meant by "life and death together". In my previous life, after Julian collapsed from anemia, Luna insisted on donating blood to him. I fought with everything I had to stop it. I told him that Luna had already contracted HIV. If she donated blood to him, he would be infected as well. He refused to believe me. Luna cried and swore that she had never even had a boyfriend. To prove her innocence, she climbed onto the rooftop and pretended she was going to jump to her death. However, she slipped. She missed her footing and fell to her death from the building. To avenge her, Julian conspired with our classmates to kidnap me. He strangled me with his own hands. I still remember his furious roar. "This is all because of your slander! You killed Luna! I will make you pay for her life!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the blood transfusion. I watched as Julian lay there, already receiving blood from his beloved Luna. I smiled faintly. HIV? Fine.

In the sixth year after helping Blake secure his position as Don, I was both his wife and his sharpest blade. Until the day of our daughter's birthday– She was hit by a car arranged by his enemies. As her life hung by a thread, I called him dozens of times. He never answered. However, I heard that he was at a casino, spending lavishly with his first love. In that moment, whatever I felt for Blake died completely. So when he finally returned, carrying the scent of another woman, I pretended not to notice. Blake frowned and tried to explain, "Victoria is still young. The casino isn't safe. I had no choice but to stay with her." I said nothing. I only nodded. However, he suddenly flew into a rage, grabbing me by the throat, his gaze dark. "Helena, our daughter is hurt – do you think I don't care? Do you have to keep this attitude? "And it's just a minor injury. You're the Don's wife. Be more composed. Don't let your jealousy toward Victoria go too far." I let out a cold laugh. He did not know–our daughter was already gone. And neither he nor this family needed to exist in my life anymore.

**Perfect Blind** *She pretended to be her blind twin. Then she watched her brother-in-law die. The killer tested her—held the bloody head five inches from her face. She didn't blink.* **But what he didn't know? She's not just pretending. She's hunting him too.** --- Jiang Yan has spent three months learning to be her blind twin sister: the walk, the voice, the empty stare. She breaks into Lin's apartment seeking a diary—evidence of a murder Yan committed ten years ago. Instead, she finds a body. A killer who knows sign language. And a "dead man" who won't stop breathing. Trapped in a locked room with two strangers and one lie, Yan must play the perfect blind woman while uncovering the truth: her sister isn't blind, her father isn't dead, and the murder she confessed to never happened. **In this family, everyone wears a mask. The only way out is to see through them all.** --- **Perfect for fans of:** - *The Silent Patient* (unreliable narrator) - *Gone Girl* (toxic sisterhood) - *Behind Her Eyes* (identity games) **Tags:** #PsychologicalThriller #TwistedFamily #BlindPOV #ShortRead #DarkSecrets --- **Word count:** 10,000 words | **Chapters:** 10 | **Reading time:** 45 minutes *Every chapter ends with a twist. The final page changes everything

He pinned me against the wall, his eyes burning with intensity. I tried to push him away, but he just smiled, his lips curling up in that annoying grin of his that looked sexy as hell. 'You can't resist me, can you?' he teased, his breath hot against my skin. I tried to deny it, but my body betrayed me, arching into his touch. He chuckled, his eyes glinting with triumph. "Don't," I whispered, my voice trembling with need. "I'm not ready for this." He paused, his gaze searching mine. Then, he leaned in closer, his voice low and husky. 'I think you are." When Tilda's fiancé cheats on her, she seeks comfort in a one-night stand with a stranger who pretended to be her groom to get her our a a bind but when she discovers he's her new boss, Richard, and the father of her young patient, Ivy, Tilda's world is turned upside down. As she explores her feelings for Richard, she must confront the consequences of their whirlwind romance as well as the Pandora's box they open. Will their love survive or will they end up like every Ill written love story?

My son, Jasper Cole, won the gold prize in an art competition. When I took off my apron and rushed to the award ceremony, I found that the painting titled 'Mother' was not of me but Maeve Leighton, my husband's secretary. Maeve pretended to be troubled as she told my son, "Your mom will be sad when she sees this painting." However, Jasper was unperturbed. "What does her sadness have to do with me? She's an ordinary-looking and incompetent housewife, always nagging me about what I can and can’t do. She's too strict with me. It's annoying! Maeve, I wish you were my mother. My dad doesn't like my mom at all. He's only happy when he's with you. He's only with my mom because he feels obligated." My heart broke at that moment. Since he no longer wanted me as his mother, it was pointless for me to stay. I called my dad. "Dad, I want to go home. Can you pick me up?" My dad could not believe it. He answered after a long pause, "Of course. I'll come pick up my brilliant daughter in three days."

I realized my period was two weeks late after going on a trip to the swimming pool with my best friend, Gianna Lowe. Gianna insisted that I take a pregnancy test. I was stunned when I saw the two red lines on the pregnancy stick test. I had a boyfriend, Mitchell Gray, but I was a conservative person, so I still hadn't slept with Mitchell. I couldn't help but wonder whose baby this was. I planned to just terminate the mystery pregnancy, but Mitchell pretended to be worried about my health, offering to marry me and raise the child. It was finally my delivery date. I was lying weakly in the delivery room when Mitchell shoved a pillow over my face and smothered me, roaring, "You slut! Did you think I'd raise another man's child? I'll make you and this illegitimate child pay for everything!" I was too weak to resist since I had just given birth, so Mitchell successfully killed me. I suddenly open my eyes and realize that I have returned to the day I found out about my pregnancy. I am completely determined this time—I have to find out who the father really is!

"I said leave me alone," I yelled through my lungs as I was struggling to breathe. "Sssshhhhh....."  When he leaned closer to my ear, he was serene. "It's fine with me even if you don't love me; I'm not going to ask you to love me; I just want you around me because you're my bride and only I have a right to you," he explained. "So I chose death over being with you," I spat a bitter truth while daring to look him in the eyes, which triggered him even more. "Then die," he said shamelessly. -------------- Sansa Elsher was taken on her wedding day by an Alpha Xavier, who claimed her as his bride by the law of pronouncement of wonder, the law from which she was bound by him even before she was born. To save her lover, Logan, she pretended to be Xavier's wife and was forced to accept him as her mate. Things got worse when Sansa's twisted fate brought her true mate right in front of her, whom she can't deny or accept at the same time. This is the first book in the series; the second book, "Under The Moonlight: Alpha's Bride 2," is now available.

In her third year of dating Jackson Hunter, the cool and proud Lumina Walker took out a secret loan of one million dollars to repay his debt. She even resorted to performing stripteases in a bar. Everything changed when she overheard a shocking conversation between him and his friends. "You're ruthless even to yourself! Just to get back at Lumina, you pretended to be a bartender for three years, tricked her into taking out a loan for you, and used her nude video as collateral. You even got her to strip at your bar! " "If she ever found out that you're the loan shark and own the bar she stripped at… She'd probably drop dead from anger right there and then!" another chimed in. Celia Price was Lumina's living nightmare, her tormentor for nine years since their middle school days—relentless bullying, harassment, and abuse. The painful twist? Celia was Jackson's secret love all along—for a decade, to be exact. Yet Lumina didn't cry, didn't fight back. So when her Uncle Howard called and ordered her to marry the mute oldest son of the powerful Morgan family from Crown City, she agreed without hesitation.

I discovered my Alpha mate Ethan's secret. The ring he gave me on our wedding day was actually used to track and monitor me. But I didn't cry. I pretended my eyes hadn't healed, and witnessed firsthand how Ethan and his mistress clung to each other, entangled in affection. Ethan's voice was low and husky: "Let's be quick. Selene usually wakes up after an hour of rest." The mistress covered her mouth and giggled softly: "She's just a blind wolf. What does it matter if she wakes up? As long as we don't make any noise." Hearing this, Ethan glared at her in warning. "Even though Selene has lost her sight, she's still the person I love most, and she's my bottom line. If you disrespect Selene again, whatever is between us ends right here." But what he didn't know was that my blindness had been cured. I could see everything clearly now. After getting out of bed, I wiped away my tears and made a phone call. "Tell the Alpha of the Shadow Pack that I'm willing to become their Chief Healer."

Reese agreed to marry Troy, thinking their feelings were mutual. It turned out that he only used her to get close to her mother, Mandy. When she went home after taking care of her mother-in-law, who pretended to be sick, she caught her mom and husband in their marital bed. She exacted revenge by having a one-night stand with a stranger, who happened to be the wealthiest man in town, and the business partner of her unknown biological father, Vincent. The chaos escalated when Reese discovered that the billionaire, Lorenzo Carter, intended to marry her twin sister, Candice, with whom she thought her son was Enzo's. Overwhelmed, she fled to escape the painful memories, unaware of her own pregnancy. By chance, she encountered a woman who proposed a modeling career, which flourished until her pregnancy was revealed. Faced with pressure to choose between her rising career and her unborn child, Reese stood at life's crossroads, contemplating the profound decision before her. When Lorenzo Carter found her, he proposed marriage, but sadly, she had no memory of him. Utilizing his influence, he persuaded her to agree to the contract marriage. Once successful, he endeavored to make her remember him and to reignite her love for him.