Sally Face Without Mask

Faking Love is a story of two distinct individuals from very different worlds. Megan, who is strong-hearted is a celebrity boxer while Chris is a ghostwriter just trying to make ends meet. A chance encounter let their paths cross when they meet backstage in a boxing event. Megan is in the spotlight after her ex gets engaged to the girl, he cheated on her with, and she wants to quash the rumors that she's still heartbroken and pining for him. She decides to strike a deal with Chris, he becomes her fake boyfriend, and she pays him and also help to elevate his career. Perhaps she doesn't just want to be harassed by men or she needs Chris as a fake boyfriend to avoid ending up with a real one. Chris becomes the ghostwriter for her upcoming book about her life story and her against-the-odds championship win book and she offers to have him listed as the co-writer, giving him greater royalties, and helping him break into the traditional publishing industry with a higher profile than otherwise. What happens when fake love becomes real love?

Bagi Ghaidan Ravindra, perempuan adalah sumber kegelapan. Sebuah sumpah telah terucap di tengah reruntuhan masa kecilnya: tak akan pernah ada ruang untuk cinta di hatinya yang beku. Namun, takdir menuntut sebuah pernikahan. Seorang ahli waris. Hyra Danurdara tidak punya pilihan. Di antara tumpukan utang dan tanggung jawab untuk satu-satunya keluarga yang ia miliki, tawaran pernikahan dari Ghaidan adalah jalan keluar—sekaligus jalan buntu. Ia setuju menjadi istri di atas kertas, menukar kebebasannya demi sebuah janji pelunasan. Pernikahan mereka seharusnya hanya transaksi dingin, sebuah perjanjian yang terikat waktu dan syarat. Namun, di balik dinding es yang dibangun Ghaidan, sebuah percikan mulai menyala. Di dalam keputusasaan Hyra, secercah harapan mulai tumbuh. Ketika masa lalu yang kelam kembali datang mengetuk pintu, membawa rahasia yang mampu menghancurkan segalanya, ikatan rapuh mereka diuji hingga ke titik terlemahnya. Di persimpangan antara dendam masa kecil dan masa depan yang tak pernah ia bayangkan, Ghaidan harus memilih. Akankah ia membiarkan trauma menenggelamkannya selamanya, atau berani meraih tangan wanita yang tanpa sadar telah menyembuhkan lukanya?

Sarah Willow, a sweet girl, born into the lowliest of ranks has always wanted a happily ever after. She believed she had found it when destiny brought Alpha Ryder, her fated mate to her. But her fairytale was short lived when her protector turns out to be her worst nightmare. Shattered and broken by his betrayal, Sarah vows to make him feel every bit of pain she had felt. But there’s a thin line between love and hate. As the line is crossed severally in her encounter with Ryder, will Sarah be able to stick to her plan? Or will she fall back to buried memories? Will she be willingly to love again, despite her past? Or will her thirst for revenge get the better part?

Sold to the highest bidder to pay off a blood feud, I never imagined I would be the pawn in my father's fatal game. Still, here I am before Enzo De Luca, the most vicious mafia leader in the city. Though appealing, he is cold, deliberate, and as lethal. Though my heart races just from his proximity, it is his touch that ignites me. My body betrays me and reacts to him in ways I am powerless over. And I melt as he softly, commandingly says my name. Enzo loves neither me nor another. In his deadly kingdom, I am only another bargain, another transaction. But every time we are alone, the conflict between us snaps—desire becomes a terrible addiction. Although I detest him for everything he stands for, I yearn for the way he consumes me, body and soul. He has made it quite evident—our marriage is more about power than love. Still, every angry gaze and every snatched moment in the shadow reveals something different. Benevolent underneath his icy façade lies something broken that appeals to the darkest sides of me. But depending on a man like Enzo may mean losing everything. Bound to him now, for better or worse, I am caught in a world where loyalty is brittle and treachery carries a bullet. Our friendship gets more perilous the more truths about his empire I find. And as the past calls for us, I have to question myself: will our passion be the thing that ruins us both or can I survive loving a guy like Enzo De Luca? Burning in his arms is me. But in his universe, I could roast alive.

Buku ini juga dikenal dengan judul "The Rustling Autumn Breeze Knows My Heart". Untuk dapat menyelamatkan nyawa ibunya 5 tahun yang lalu, Sally Jacob pergi kepada seorang pria dan memutuskan untuk tak akan pernah melihat anaknya setelah proses persalinan. Lima tahun kemudian, seorang anak yang menggemaskan merengek-rengek meminta ciuman sayang, pelukan dan tidur dengannya. Sally Jacob memberikan apapun yang diminta anak laki-laki mungil ini dengan senang hati.

Just before our Luna Ceremony, my mate, Alpha Killian, rejected me—moments after we'd mated. "The pack needs a gentle Omega for a Luna, Mia. Not a Beta with blood on her hands like you." His face was a cold mask, his Alpha command washing over me, snuffing out the lingering scent of our passion. I swallowed the pain in my heart and watched him slam the door. A moment later, a notification hit the pack network. I was stripped of my position as Lead Beta. In my place, Killian appointed Mia as the new Head Warrior. The empire I'd spent eight years helping Killian build was gifted to her on a silver platter. With my heart shattered, I walked away. It wasn't until I became Luna to Alpha Damien of a rival pack that Killian started showing up at my new border, crying and begging me to come back.

On my first day back with the Cannon family as the true heiress, I heard the voice of the family’s guardian spirit. “You must stop your father from investing in the West City project. There’s an ancient tomb beneath the site. He’ll lose everything.” I convinced my father, Aaron Cannon, to abandon the project and invest in North City instead. But a factory next to the North City site had a toxic gas leak. Dozens of workers died overnight. Aaron lost his entire fortune to the compensation. While the family was drowning in despair, the guardian spirit spoke again. “Money can be earned again, but it’s a pity your mother will die in a car crash tomorrow when she goes out to borrow money from an old friend.” I immediately stopped my mother, Sally Cannon, from leaving the house. She avoided the car accident but tragically died from a sudden heart attack. With tears streaming down his face, Aaron told me she had been having chest pains for days but had endured the pain. She had only decided to go to the hospital today because she could not bear it any longer. My blood ran cold. By stopping her from going out, I had ultimately caused her death. Overwhelmed with grief, Aaron drank pesticide and died on the spot. Overnight, there was no one left in the family but me and the fake heiress, Pearl Cannon. To repay the debts and support my education, Pearl took on three jobs a day. Then, the guardian spirit spoke to me once more. “Your sister has been dragged into an alley. Go save her now!” I rushed to the location. I arrived breathless and frantic, but I was already too late. My sister lay in a pool of blood. She was not breathing anymore. I thought, ‘Mia Talbert, it’s all your fault! You’re a curse. You should’ve died instead!’ Consumed by despair, I jumped from a tall building and ended my miserable life. When I opened my eyes, I had traveled to the past.

I went to visit the set where my chaste fiancee, the award-winning actress Whitney Lockwood, was shooting her new movie. When I heard she was shooting a bed scene, I frowned but still agreed. However, her scene partner, a young actor named Yarden Stein, could not get into character. Whitney grew impatient. She said they should do it for real. I stopped her and said they could use a body double instead. She slapped me across the face and glared at me with teary eyes. “Yale, this movie is very important to me! I have to make sure it’s perfect! Or do you think my first time matters more than the career I love most?” In the next second, she tore off all her garments and climbed onto the young actor without hesitation. She turned to look at me. Her eyes were full of sorrow. “I’ll imagine Yarden is you. Then, it will be no different from being with you.” I watched them slowly prepare for the scene. I heard the clapboard snap as filming began. My face stayed blank as I made a phone call. “Blacklist Whitney and Yarden. Anyone who still hires them will be making an enemy of the Foster family.”

After a fire broke out at the company, I shoved the only rescue rope into the hands of my husband, Peyton Shepherd. However, he yanked the smoke mask off my face and turned to secure it on his secretary, Hannah Russell, instead. Peyton escaped using the rescue rope, and Hannah remained unharmed thanks to the mask. I collapsed from inhaling toxic smoke, and then a falling pillar crashed into my stomach. Blood pooled beneath me. Just as the firefighters lifted me onto a stretcher, Peyton grabbed me and pulled me back down. "Serena, it's just a minor injury. Why are you lying on the stretcher? Let Hannah go to the hospital first. Her condition is serious, and she needs a comprehensive medical exam!" The firefighters and paramedics stared in shock. They looked at my blood-soaked dress, then Hannah crying pitifully over her blistered hand. My colleagues tried to intervene. "But Mr. Shepherd, Serena's injuries are clearly more severe!" Peyton snarled through gritted teeth. "Enough! I'm Serena's husband. Don't you think I know her condition? If Hannah's treatment gets delayed because of this, none of you will escape the consequences!" I pressed my hand against my slightly swollen lower abdomen and nodded, agreeing to let Hannah take the ambulance first. I decided that from this moment forward, neither I nor my unborn child owed Peyton anything.

It was the day of my return. The city was talking about the birthday party my husband was throwing for me. He was a lawyer. But the night before the big day, a message popped up on my husband's cell phone. 'It's been five years. I've been waiting for far too long.' My husband pushed me away, though his face was smeared with guilt. "I'm sorry, honey. The GM wants me on a last-minute work trip. I can't make it in time for your birthday." He left without even missing a beat. I opened up the GPS app and watched the red dot move away. That was him. I got an Uber and tailed him right away. His GM was me. I just got the job, and I approved his leave for my birthday. And then he told me, in my face, that I assigned him on a last-minute work trip when I did no such thing. It was midnight. And I was going to find out who this man was meeting at this witching hour.