Pretending Artinya

(Area 21+) Bijaklah dalam memilih bacaan. Kayla, atau biasa disapa dengan Key, memergoki suaminya berselingkuh dengan seorang perempuan di sebuah hotel berbintang. Tak terima dikhianati, ia pun berencana untuk membuat suami dan perempuan jalang tersebut tewas dalam sebuah kecelakaan. Namun apesnya, hari sial tak pernah ada di dalam kalender. Bukannya membuat suami dan sang pelakor tewas, Key justru mengalami kecelakaan tunggal hingga menyebabkan dirinya tewas di tempat. Sayangnya, Key tidak menyadari jika dirinya sudah mati. Sebab pasca insiden maut itu terjadi, ia justru terbangun dan tahu-tahu sudah berada dalam sebuah kamar hotel bersama suaminya. "Morning, sayang. Maaf ya, aku tadi harus balas pesan dari istriku dulu," terang Brayan seraya menyapu wajah Key dengan bibirnya. "Istri?" Key terkejut mendengarnya. Seingatnya, sebelum kecelakaan terjadi, dia dan Brayan sudah menikah resmi secara agama dan negara. Itu artinya, ia adalah istri sahnya Brayan, kenapa tiba-tiba berganti menjadi ani-ani? Menyadari jika ia berubah menjadi perempuan selingkuhan suaminya sendiri, Key pun memanfaatkan keadaan. Satu persatu rahasia tentang Brayan pun akhirnya terbuka. Mulai dari alasan sang suami berselingkuh, hingga penyebab kecelakaan Key yang ternyata ulah sosok misterius yang selama ini menjadi duri dalam rumah tangga Key dan Brayan. Lalu, apa yang akan Brayan katakan saat ia tahu jika yang menjadi selingkuhannya adalah istrinya sendiri? Sampai kapan Key akan bertahan dalam tubuh selingkuhan suaminya? Apakah ia akan kembali hidup dalam tubuhnya, atau justru mati seperti saat kecelakaan terjadi?

Griselle Dayoung dan David, hidup di dua dunia yang berbeda. Griselle sebagai pewaris tunggal HANSENG group milik keluaranya. Di sisi lain David seorang pria misterius yang memulai segalanya dari nol. Griselle yang acuh dan bebas bertemu dengan David yang dingin dan selalu menghitung langkah dalam bertindak. "Bukannya tadi aku bertanya apakah tubuhmu baik-baik saja?" Jawab David sambil melirik ke arah Griselle. "Iya, lantas apa hubungannya antara tubuhku baik-baik saja dengan kamu mengantar makan siang ke kantorku?" Tanya Griselle dengan wajah bingung, hatinya merasa sedikit tidak nyaman. "Hari ini, aku sedang bereksperimen dengan menu baru. Karena nggak ada yang menjadi kelinci percobaan, walau dengan berat hati, aku pergi mengantar makanan buatanku ke kantormu. Menurutku setidaknya, di sana ada banyak pegawaimu yang bisa menjadi kelinci percobaan." Jawab David dengan santai. Griselle terdiam saat mendengar perkataan David, saat ini di dalam hatinya timbul keinginan yang sangat besar untuk menarik keras rambut dan menggigit daun telinga pria di depannya ini. Ternyata kebaikan David tadi siang hanya untuk menjadikan dirinya dan pegawainya sebagai kelinci percobaan. Rupanya dia mau membalas dendam, maki Griselle di dalam hati. "Melihat kamu kembali baik-baik saja, aku merasa sedikit tenang, artinya makananku masih layak untuk dimakan." David melanjutkan perkataannya masih dengan nada tenang, tanpa menyadari perubahan di wajah Griselle yang sudah menghitam. Wajah Griselle yang awalnya kelam, tiba-tiba berubah dengan cepat menjadi wajah penuh kelicikan. Perubahan wajah Griselle secepat membalikkan telapak tangan, dengan wajah penuh senyuman manis, dia berkata, "Tetapi aku tetap harus berterima kasih loh."

Elena Vale has spent her entire life sticking to the rules, until the night she's forced into an engagement she never wanted. Fleeing from her high-society cage, she ends up in a grimy bar, drinking with a brooding stranger who offers the one thing she never expected: freedom.  Jack Roman is the last man a woman like Elena Vale should marry. Tattooed, sharp-tongued, and hiding secrets behind his sea blue eyes. He's everything she's been taught to avoid. But when an impulsive drunken wedding turns into a full-blown scandal, Elena seizes the chaos. She makes him a deal — six months of pretending, then they part ways. To Elena, faking a marriage with a stranger is supposed to keep her safe. But as sparks turn to passion, and buried truths come to light, Elena realizes she may have just traded one kind of prison for another. Because Jack didn't just walk into her life by accident… and falling in love with him might just cost her everything.

Talia faked her death to escape a cruel fate of being married off to a powerful, ruthless alpha old enough to be her grandfather. But freedom came at a cost, she has to let go of her name, her body, and everything that made her who she was. Now, hidden beneath a new identity, she enters the most dangerous place for someone like her, an elite academy meant only for the strongest alphas. She's an omega, the lowest rank, disguised as a boy… and pretending to be something she can never become. Living among predators, training beside warriors, and sharing a dorm with a dangerously attractive alpha prince, she knows one mistake could expose her and get her killed. She never planned to fall in love. Especially not with someone who can never know the truth. But secrets have a scent. And wolves always chase what’s forbidden. As sparks ignite and enemies close in, how long can she hide what she is? And what happens when the mate bond doesn’t care about lies?

Bain and Gia met in Sizzling Strip, a pub along Times Square where Gia works. Bain is hunting for the perfect woman to propose a deal to—be his girlfriend and convince his mother he is in love with another woman so she will help extricate him from an arranged engagement with a socialite he wanted to back out of. Gia can’t believe the exorbitant fee she is going to get paid with, until he informed her there will be—possibly—a marriage contract should it come to it. And the reason she was qualified for the job? Not only did he like her, he feels she is attracted to him, too. But Gia has important reasons to accept the proposal--her mother has cancer and needed money for treatment, they're going to lose their house and her nanny, and she is a semester away from graduating college. It isn't like it’s going to be hard pretending to be the girlfriend of a wealthy, hot and sexy businessman. So the contract is signed and all and she is set to follow her boyfriend to Texas to start the game and meet with his mother. Whatever else could go wrong?

My grandmother, Nancy Muller, was the richest woman in Asperio, and I was her only granddaughter. However, my two older brothers, David Muller and Evan Muller, let our adoptive sister, Tina Muller, steal my identity. Right before Skyrise Group's 100-year anniversary celebration began, Tina rushed to sit in the seat reserved for the heiress of the company. Pretending to sound concerned, she looked at me and said, "If it weren't for David insisting I bring you along to broaden your horizons, a broke student like you would never step foot into Skyrise Group. "Just know your place and don't cause trouble later. Otherwise, David will beat you up." In my past life, I had been intimidated by my brothers. As a result, I was timid and weak, constantly yielding to Tina. But now, I had been reborn. Watching Tina spew nonsense, I raised my leg and sent her flying. "Who the hell do you think you are? Don't you dare talk to me like that!"

Breaking rules had always come naturally to Yvette, the same as breaking someone's heart. She can easily make a man beg for her. She has all the freedom that she has, all thanks to her twin sister, Yvonne. So, on the day Yvette received a call about her twin’s accident, she found out that Yvonne's husband and billionaire, Clyde Smith, had been cheating on her twin. She saw red. With her twin's death comes a vow Yvette made to herself. She will get her revenge while pretending to be her twin. She will seduce him, make him desperately fall in love with her, and then break him like how he broke her twin sister. She'll get her revenge on Clyde and his mistress. Nobody can resist the alluring and seductive Yvette anyway. After all, she was sure she would never lose in this game she started because there was no way she would ever fall in love with her twin's husband. Or so she thought…

"You may be a monster, but you can't make me do anything, so quit acting like you own me." She said to him pretending he had no effect on her. "Do you need another spanking? Shall I bend you over again and remind you who you belong to as I find the most erogenous zones on your body even you didn't know existed. Shall I remind you whose name you'll scream as you come, if I let you come?" He said, the fiery passion in his eyes betraying his calm voice. Destined to end the war between two packs and be the bride of Alpha Caleb, Davina never thought she'd end up being his Son's luna instead. Keith was exiled years ago for a crime he did commit. But now he was back. And ready to take back all that was rightfully his including that beautiful Davina, even though she'd rather murder him than admit any feelings for him.

Vivian Kim spent twenty years on the runway, managed by her mother, a former model who pushed her to the top. Together, they were unstoppable. But when her mother suddenly dies, Vivian’s career crumbles. At twenty-nine, the fashion world calls her too old and too faded to matter. Determined to start over, Vivian moves to Avron, a city of glass towers and endless ambition. She dreams of creating her own fashion brand and living life on her own terms. What she doesn’t expect is to clash with Vincent Evans on her very first day. Vincent is Avron’s cold and powerful billionaire, a man who trusts no one but the girl he adopted. To him, Vivian is nothing but trouble. To her, he is arrogant, impossible, and infuriatingly magnetic. One harmless lie soon spirals into scandal. To protect his empire and her reputation, they agree to a fake dating contract. But as every glance grows hotter and every rule starts to blur, both must face a dangerous question: What happens when pretending is no longer enough?

My husband, Noah Campbell, has only passed away for less than three months when my sister-in-law, Pamela Turner, starts urging me to move out. "It's not that I'm casting you out, Veronica. You see, Matthew wants to renovate your bedroom. I'm just worried that you might not have time to pack up your stuff when the time comes. "Besides, Noah is no longer around. It's inappropriate for you to continue living in an apartment that belongs to your in-laws, you know?" My mother-in-law pauses mid-bite, pretending she didn't hear a word Pamela said. Meanwhile, Matthew Campbell, Pamela's husband, continues munching on his food silently. Upon noticing that I never replied to her, Pamela adds, "Don't overthink it, Veronica. I don't want the outsiders gossiping about you, you know." Only then do I look up at her with a smile. "Thank you for your concern, Pamela. But I'm not scared of a bit of gossip." After all, I'm the owner of this apartment.