Pretending Artinya

Heaven never dreamed of marrying into a family as rich and powerful as the Wiles family, but an arranged marriage bound her to Damien Wiles and knowing he didn’t care about her didn’t stop her from falling for him completely. Unfortunately, all she got in return for her love and devotion was a marriage full of pain and coldness yet she selflessly sacrificed herself when Damien was shot at. After being trapped in a coma for five years, Heaven finally wakes up but doesn’t remember anything. At her bedside stands Damien, no longer the cold, heartless husband he once was—not that she even remembers, and a little boy who calls her “Mommy.” Knowing that Heaven doesn’t remember their loveless marriage, and the pain that once defined her life because of him, Damien will now stop at nothing to win back the woman he once destroyed—even if it means lying to her and pretending they were the perfect couple before her accident. But memories have a way of returning, no matter how deeply they’ve been buried. And when Heaven finally regains hers, the truth of Damien’s betrayal and the agony of her past come crashing back. Faced with the lies he spun and the love he now offers, Heaven must decide whether she can forgive the man who broke her beyond repair… or if some wounds can never truly heal.

Married for five years, I'm known as the woman with the perfect husband. Alexander Foster is tall, strong, endlessly passionate, and people love to joke that we can't keep our hands off each other. Then he goes on a mission one day and never returns. I fall apart. I try to end my life six times, and six times someone drags me back. On the night of the sixth attempt, I overhear my mother-in-law, Anna Greyson, whispering to the man everyone believes is Alexander's younger brother, Daniel Foster. "Alexander, how long are you going to keep hiding this? Mia has tried to kill herself six times because of you." Alexander's voice stays calm. "Mom, before Daniel died, he asked me to take care of Lily. She's fragile, and now she's pregnant with my child. If she learns the truth, she won't survive it." And that's when the truth hits me. My husband isn't dead at all. He's been pretending to be his own younger brother and plans to have a child with Lily Harper under that lie. After crying until I can barely stand, I contact Margaret Warren at the matchmaking agency. "About that blind date you mentioned. I'll take it. And I want the wedding as soon as possible."

I was attacked at the same time as my childhood friend, and when we finally woke up, he had lost his memory. I didn't have a single scratch, but my long-gone grandmother's spirit somehow ended up inside my body. "This wimp is still pretending he lost his memory just to trick my sweetheart. If I were still alive, I'd beat him so bad he wouldn't know which way was up!" I stared in shock, my mouth wide open. My grandmother's angry voice kept ringing in my head. "In Sonia's last life, she got killed because of that useless Fabian. She lived such an unhappy life because of him! "When her grandpa asks who she wants to marry this time, I hope she won't choose Fabian. She should pick Chandler instead. That boy is quite responsible!" A moment later, my grandfather and a few elders really did walk into my room. They laid out portraits of the four princes in front of me and told me to choose one as my future husband. I didn't hesitate at all. I picked my long-time rival, Chandler Clarke. If my grandmother said Fabian Clarke never loved me, then I didn't want him anymore.

“I don’t know how,” I whispered. “Can you show me? Please, daddy.” He should have said no. Instead, he said, “Lie back and open those pretty legs. Let daddy take care of that for you.” When I shattered all over his fingers he looked at me like I was the most devastating thing he’d ever seen and said, “That’s my sweet girl.” Three days later he put me on a plane to London and didn’t look back. ----- She has spent three years across an ocean trying to unlearn her Stepfather; his voice, his hands, the way he said her name like it cost him something. She almost managed it. Then he called to say he was getting married again and he needed her home. Now she’s back in Boston, sleeping under his roof, watching him plan a future with someone else, and pretending she doesn’t still want him the way she did at nineteen. He is doing the same, pretending. Controlling. Building walls and calling it protection. But three years haven’t changed what’s between them. If anything, the distance made it worse. He sent her away once to save her from him. This time, she isn’t leaving. Some things are wrong in every way that matters, and still impossible to stop.

His blood is still on my hands when he presses me to the wall. He's not kissing me yet, just his breath at my throat and his fingers tugging the waistband of my scrubs like he owns what’s under them. "I kill for you, doctor," he growls, voice thick with threat and worship. "The least you can do is stop pretending you don’t like it." I should run, instead, I tilt my chin—and dare him to try. Dr. Elena Vance never meant to save a mafia king. One moment, she’s leaving a trauma shift. The next, she’s elbow-deep in blood, patching up a man with a gun under his belt and death in his eyes. That man is Dante Volkov. Russia’s most wanted heir. New York’s rising Pakhan. And now? Elena’s captor. His offer is simple: Marry him or disappear forever. She bargains for three months.Three months to resist the Bratva’s crown prince. Three months to prove she’s no one’s possession. But Dante doesn’t play fair. He wages war with his hands, his mouth, his voice—claiming Elena in every room, every breath, every ruined rule. And as old enemies rise and family blood spills, one thing becomes terrifyingly clear: Elena isn’t just married to the mob. She’s becoming one of them.

My husband died in a fire trying to save me, leaving behind a mountain of debt and a newborn child. I worked hard to pay off the debt while raising the child, only to unintentionally discover that my husband hadn’t died at all. Instead, he was sleeping with my cousin. “Honey, you’re so clever. You transferred all the company funds and faked your death, leaving that stupid wife of yours to shoulder all the debt. “She’s so clueless that she doesn’t even realize the son she’s raising isn’t hers, that I swapped him out. Once she’s done paying off the debts, the three of us can live a great life together.” I silently sneered, pretending I knew nothing, and continued to raise the child. Twenty years later, my son returned home after studying abroad. The company went public in New York. On the day of the IPO, my cousin appeared arm in arm with my husband, holding a paternity test. “Claire, your husband never died. We’ve been together all these years. Alex is my son. Now that you’ve been his mother for so long, isn’t it time to return him to me?” My husband also presented a divorce agreement. “I built this company from scratch. It’s premarital property. Sign the divorce papers, walk away with nothing, and you can leave now.” I smiled and told him, “I’ve prepared a special gift for you too. I wonder if you’ll like it."

The day we were meant to be mated, my Alpha, Ford, was ambushed. Silver bullets shredded his car, sending it plunging off a bridge and into the river below. He was pronounced dead. Drowned. I was left pregnant with his heir, shattered by the raw agony of our severed mate bond. Then Ford's twin, Aiden, returned from abroad with his mate, Kyra. His identical face and a scent so similar to my mate's nearly drove me mad. A desperate part of me swore Ford was still alive. I told myself it was just grief. A widow's delusion. Until I overheard a hushed conversation and the horrifying truth slammed into me: the man pretending to be Aiden was Ford. He had faked his death. He'd let his own brother die in his place, all for Kyra—the other woman carrying his child. The grief that had crippled me instantly morphed into a cold, sharp rage. Ford didn't just break our bond; he shattered it. And I would make him pay. I wiped my tears and sent a single message to my brother, Billy, the Alpha of the Winterstone Pack. "Brother, I need a plane crash. He loves faking his death? Fine. Let him feel what it's like to truly lose a mate." Only when the news of my "death" spread did Ford reclaim his name. He knelt for seven days and nights in the ashes of the home we once shared, consumed by a grief of his own making.

My mating ceremony with Alpha Kaelan Blackwood was supposed to happen today. He'd gone to claim the Luna's Crown for me—the final ritual before we would be bound forever. Instead, he walked into an ambush. He survived. Barely. But his wolf didn't survive. Whatever had come back from that attack wore Kaelan's face but doesn't know me. Doesn't recognize his fated mate. Instead, he looks at Seraphina like she's the one who matters. Dr. Theron Vance, our Pack Healer, gave me hope anyway. The pup I was carrying is Pureblood—a miracle, even between two Pureblood wolves. He said it might be enough to wake whatever wasleeping inside Kaelan. I was going to tell him tonight. Then I heard him talking to his Beta, Beckett. "You're really going through with this? Pretending your Wolf is gone just so a dying woman can play mother before she—" "Drop it. Elara's the only one I've ever loved." Kaelan's voice came low, steady. "This thing with Sera is just medical. A procedure. It means nothing. When it's over, Elara and I complete the mating ceremony. End of story." I didn't storm in. Didn't scream. Didn't cry. I just turned around and walked away. I don't want an Alpha's love if I'm never going to be his priority.

He stole the wrong girl. Or maybe… she chose the right king. Dante Valenti rules his empire with cold precision and a reputation soaked in blood. No one crosses him. No one deceives him. And no one escapes him. So when he kidnaps a woman from the Moretti estate—a trembling little princess meant to be leverage—he expects fear. Instead, the woman chained in his basement looks him dead in the eyes… and smiles. Aria Moretti has spent years hiding behind silk dresses and a porcelain mask, pretending to be the quiet, obedient daughter of the Moretti crime family. But beneath the pretty facade lies a secret no one suspects: She is the Moretti’s most lethal weapon. A phantom. A blade disguised as a flower. And she walked willingly into the lion’s den for one reason— to kill Dante Valenti. Her mission is simple: Get captured. Get close. Get his trust. End the king. But nothing about Dante is simple. The moment he discovers who she truly is, he doesn’t kill her. He claims her. "You came to kill me, little killer... but every king needs a queen.” Now, Aria is caught in a deadly dance between loyalty and desire, betrayal and obsession. Dante matches her darkness note for note—twisted, brilliant, and devastatingly irresistible. He should be her target. Instead, he’s becoming her temptation. And the deeper she falls, the clearer the truth becomes: She isn’t the only weapon in this war. Dante has claws of his own— and he’s willing to use every one of them to keep her.

My twin sister, Rebecca Shaffer, was kidnapped while saving me. The trauma left her with a mental illness that made her lash out at everyone around her. The only person who could get close to her, the only one who could calm her down, was my husband, Ezekiel Roberts. For the sake of her recovery, my parents insisted that Rebecca move into the master bedroom of my newlywed home. Whenever Ezekiel and I were intimate, Rebecca would lose control and throw things at me. Then, Ezekiel would scoop her up in his arms and carry her into the bedroom, soothing her with gentle words. Everyone kept telling me the same thing. "If Rebecca hadn't tried to save you, she wouldn't be like this now. You owe her this much!" I had no response to that, so I gave in again and again. That was, until I accidentally overheard a conversation between Rebecca and my parents. "How much longer do I have to keep pretending to be crazy? I'm so sick of sneaking around like this!" My parents looked at her with sympathy in their eyes. Ezekiel gently caressed her stomach and said, "Don't worry. I won't let Rebecca or the baby suffer even a little bit. Once I have Maisie completely under my control, I'll make everything public." I clutched the pregnancy test report in my hand and let out a bitter laugh. From now on, they would not need to keep up their elaborate charade. I would leave on my own.