Synonyms Of Facade

On my son’s birthday, my husband had asked his first love to pick our son up from our home. While I stubbornly refused to let him go, a huge fire broke out in the hallway during our standoff. I was struck by falling debris, and blood started streaming from my head. However, my son was unharmed as he lay beneath me. My husband, who was a firefighter, came forward to rescue us. But he handed the only gas mask he had to his first love. “Miss Leia has a weaker constitution. Dad, please get her out first. Mom, wait for the other firefighters to save you!” I watched them leave with a faint, bitter smile. It appeared that they had both forgotten my severe asthma and the fact that I would die without a gas mask.

My dad urgently requested that I bring Jeffrey back as he was rushed to the emergency room following a car accident. I nodded, holding back tears, but deep down, I knew Jeffrey harbored resentment toward me. He blamed me for his shattered relationship, my inherited wealth, and for coming between him and his first love. Nothing could deter him from pursuing her, not even me. "Evalyn, today is Melinda's birthday. Can you just be reasonable for once?" He spoke these words amidst the familiar sounds of laughter before abruptly ending the call. Moments later, my dad took his last breath, his eyes wide open in a final, stark gaze. As I fulfilled his last requests, organizing everything as he had instructed, I decided to let Jeffrey go. It was only then that he began to regret everything…

From a night of passion to finding out her fiance’s nephew is the man she slept with, everything becomes even more tangled when his nephew Xavier a top soccer player who wants her and would stop at nothing, even if it meant revealing their secret but things exceed even father than that, big secrets that could ruin her or him.

Billionaire heir Alexander Sterling is tired of his mother’s relentless matchmaking with spoiled socialites. In a desperate move to escape, he proposes a contract marriage to Elena Carter, a struggling waitress he met on a drunken night at a restaurant. She sees it as a golden ticket to cover her mom's medical bills, unaware she’s stepping into a life of cold indifference and relentless torment. Bound for three years, their marriage is filled with icy glares and unspoken pain. But in their second year, a mistake leads to an unexpected pregnancy. Fearful of his wrath and threats of Eleanor, Elena hides the truth, enduring his cruelty in silence. As time passes, Alexander begins to feel something he never expected. But pride keeps him from showing it. On the verge of the third year, unable to bear the suffering any longer, Elena disappears, presumed dead. Devastated, Alexander is haunted by regret, not knowing she has survived and given birth to their twins. Years later, fate brings them back together this time, as equals. Wealthy. Independent. A mother of two. Elena is no longer the fragile woman he once controlled. But their reunion is complicated by the arrival of Matteo De Luca, a ruthless Italian billionaire with a vendetta against Alexander and an interest in Elena. With enemies on all sides and unresolved emotions between them, will love conquer all? Or will the past destroy any chance of redemption?

Dante Matino Cruz is a delivery rider, sweating day and night just to keep food on the table and medicine for his ailing mother. Life is hard, but his pride is harder—no shortcuts, no handouts, no selling himself for money. Celestine Isla Navarro is a CEO who thrives in a world where hesitation means weakness. She’s used to buying what she wants and bending people to her will. But the day she crosses paths with Dante—sun-bronzed, stubborn, and infuriatingly unyielding—something inside her shifts. Her first proposition is reckless: a single night, no strings attached. Dante’s answer? Not for sale. But fate doesn’t end with one rejection. Celestine offers him something else: a job. A dangerous but well-paid position as her personal bodyguard. The money could save his mother, even secure work for his childhood friend, Liza. It’s everything he’s been breaking his back for—served on a silver platter. Now Dante faces a brutal choice: swallow his pride to protect his family, or stand firm against a woman who never takes “no” for an answer. What begins as a battle of wills turns into a dangerous, slow-burning game of temptation. Pride versus desire. Fire against fire. And in this game, someone will surrender. The question is—who will break first?

Roan King. The uncrowned king of Barnett University. He's like a freaking celebrity around here. It's totally ridiculous. People, by which I mean grown women, actually stalk him on the internet. And around campus. Apparently he's god's gift to both football and the ladies (I'm using that term loosely). All he has to do is smile and girls just fall right onto their backs before spreading their legs nice and wide. I've heard that he's already plowed his way through half the female population here at Barnett. I'm sure he'll work his way through the second half before he gets drafted to the NFL later this year. Yeah... I don't plan to be one of them. The guy is nothing more than a conceited player. You know the type—a steroid infused meathead jock coasting through college on his football prowess. Ugh. I have three words for you—avoid, avoid, avoid. Need I say more? I don't think so. I've had the sad misfortune of running into him on campus. Literally. As in—I literally slammed into him before spilling my iced coffee drink all over that wide rippling chest of his (did I just say that?). What I learned from the experience is that Roan King is one hell of a cocky son of a— Ok Unfortunately for me, Operation Avoid-Roan-King isn't going so well. Everywhere I go, there he is. If he wasn't so ridiculously hot, he would be a hell of a lot easier to forget. With his dark hair, shocking turquoise colored eyes and (damn him) buff body, he's easily the most gorgeous guy I've ever laid eyes on. Crap... see what I mean? Why do I suddenly have the bad feeling that Roan King is going to lead to my utter ruin and downfall?

On the day I miscarried and suffered from haemorrhage, my husband posted a photo of a newborn’s tiny feet on his Instagram Story. The caption read: “Welcome, little angel. Daddy will always protect you.” With trembling hands, I called him. “The baby’s gone. Can you come to the hospital?” On the other end, I heard a baby crying, followed by the man’s impatient voice. “In that case, take good care of yourself. Louise just gave birth and needs someone to care for her. I can’t leave. “Besides, the dead shouldn’t compete with the living for affection. Got it?” He hung up right after. I broke down alone on the hospital bed, and when I finally wiped away my tears, I dialed the number of his sworn enemy, Levi Snow. “Marry me, and the entire Wright Corporation will be my dowry. All I want is for you to bring Finn Yeaton down. Do we have a deal?”

Alexandra Lykos had lived on the fringe of the pack's territory her whole life, her family granted sanctuary when their own pack had been slaughtered. She'd never even met another lycan outside their family until after her 18th birthday when the pack's Alpha came to claim her as his mate. Her entire future had been signed away by her parents before she could even talk, never once telling her about the fate that awaited her. Now all their strict rules and refusal to let her go on a single date made sense. How was she supposed to navigate through this new life she was thrust into? A life she didn't even want, but was contractually obligated to live, with a man she despised with every fiber of her being?

Alessia has the greatest crush on Phoenix, the prospective Alpha of her pack. He is her fated mate, when she expects to be with him, he rejects her openly before everyone saying she is not up to his standard. She is downcasted and vows never to have anything to do with him. Then the dreaded lycan prince visits the pack estate where she lives and works for her Alpha and his Luna, she captures his interest. He takes her away from the family to be his personal maid, to live with him. With time, he falls deeply for her and chooses her as a mate, the girl he had been waiting for to assume the throne with as the Alpha King. The only thing stopping him from assuming the throne was a mate and he found none until now. A chosen mate will do but what will happen when his fated mate surfaces and it's no other but Gracelynn, Alpha Phoenix's girlfriend? In this face of complication, what will be the next action of the Alphas? Will they be an exchange or will they accept themselves as they are? Disclaimer: This book contains intense sexual urges and activities, deadly fights and lots of secrets to be discovered. It's full of twists, the unexpected happens at where you didn't expect. It would make you cry, feel pity and at other times, hardened and seeking revenge.

Two souls, one body. One was a feared assassin, and the other was a beautiful soul brought up and given everything she could ever want. Both were betrayed and killed by those around them on the same day and time. Fate, it seems, could only give one of them a second chance to make things right, a chance at vengeance for both lives.********* "What is this?" Aurelia asked her. "It's a note for a surprise that was prepared for you by your father. He said to hand it to you before the party. You should open it," Nella said. Aurelia smiled at her and tore it open. It was obviously typed in bold letters. SEE YOU AT THE ATTIC, DEAREST. Dearest? That's what her father always referred to her as. "I guess I should start going there," there," Aurelia said and left. The attic had been closed since the incident, and Aurelia had always wanted to go in there and see. It was only reasonable now that her father should let her see before getting married. She entered. "Dad?" She called out to him, but there was no answer. She went in further, and then she saw what was written on the wall. 'DIE BITCH! ' Just then, she heard from behind her as the door closed. Soon, something like a pipe was let in as smoke was being let inside the room. Aurelia ran to the door and started banging, but just then, the violinists started to play below along with other instrumentalists. She kept banging until she started to feel faint and slumped as she gasped for air. There were only a few who knew about her asthmatic condition. her father, her late mother, and Nella. Why would her father want her dead?****************** Read to know what happens next.