The Pale Faced Lie

Claire Smith has everything money can buy, except freedom. As the pampered daughter of one of Las Vegas’s wealthiest families, her life has always been dictated by her father’s ruthless expectations and his obsession with powerful alliances. But Claire has sworn she’ll never fall into his carefully arranged traps, never marry the men he chooses, never play the dutiful daughter he wants her to be. Then comes Carlos. The blind date that wasn’t supposed to matter… the man who made her feel seen, desired, alive. But before she could dream of a future with him, he shattered her world, ghosting her, breaking her heart, and leaving her with nothing but rage. Fate, however, is cruel. After a near-fatal accident, Claire wakes to find out the man who saved her life is the very one she swore to hate: Carlos. Now he’s everywhere, hovering, tempting, and invading her every breath. Is he her savior? Or her ultimate destruction? One thing is certain: Claire is about to discover that some scars don’t fade… and some obsessions refuse to die

My entrepreneur boyfriend and I had been living in a tiny rental, eating bread every day. Then one day, I saw his name on the Young Entrepreneurs List. Not only was he the CEO of my company's biggest competitor, but he was also worth over 100 million.

After my parents get divorced, my twin brother, Archer Sullivan, chooses one parent to live with. I choose to be with Mom. After the divorce, Mom's mood is at an all-time low. She gambles away all of the money we have, and she begins bringing various men home the moment she runs out of money. I have to move into a dark and damp apartment with Mom afterward. Lewd sounds keep drifting from her room every now and then. Every day, I have to secretly take on part-time work in order to earn my living expenses, on top of going to school. Life is very harsh and bitter for me. That is, until Archer, whom I haven't kept in touch with for a very long time, sends me a link to a streaming website. "Tap on the link, Adam. It's a surprise for you." I tap on the link, only to realize that the livestream that's on top of the trending list features… me? It's a livestream with a split-screen function. One screen shows me finishing my homework under the dim light in a cheap apartment. The other screen shows my parents cuddling with Archer happily while seated on a luxurious couch in a villa. "Let's see what sort of differences there will be between a pair of twins that are raised differently till they're 18 years old!" "I suppose the older twin doesn't realize that his parents never got divorced, and that his family is actually very rich! Both parents are still living happily together. Even his younger brother is living a great life." "That poor twin, though! He's living a very difficult life without three hot meals a day! Isn't this considered abuse?" "Well, that older twin is more understanding and obedient, isn't he? That's why his parents chose to make him suffer in life."

Until The Lie, Loved Me by Elle Targaryen Celeste Monroe's picture-perfect marriage was a lie. Behind the doors of her luxurious home lived a man who controlled her, broke her, and left her mourning three lost pregnancies in silence. Then he had an accident. When he wakes from a coma, he's not the same. The cruelty is gone. In its place is tenderness, protectiveness-and a love she never thought she'd feel. For a while, Celeste lets herself believe in miracles. Until she uncovers the truth: the man in her home isn't her husband. He's a spy sent to erase her. Now, Celeste must play a dangerous game-caught between the man who stole her heart and the mission that could end her life. "How do you escape the man sent to destroy you-when your heart is already his?"

The entire Silver Moon Pack knew that the Alpha, Wayne Smith, was completely devoted to me. After I casually mentioned that I liked the aurora, he immediately flew me to the Arctic Circle on his private jet. We stayed there for an entire month. I once offhandedly said I wanted to see meteor showers, and he took control of the Frost Moon Pack, the one that controlled the highest peak. He built a palace there just so I could lie down and look up at the entire Milky Way. On the night of the full moon, he swore before the whole pack. "I, Wayne, will have only Nina Shaw as my mate in this lifetime. My love will never waver." In front of all the werewolves, he knelt on one knee to put my shoes on, making it unmistakably clear that I was his one true love. Even when he shifted into his wolf form, he would forgo his pride and allow me to touch his head. But just moments ago, I reached into the pocket of the suit he had changed out of and found an ultrasound report. [Six-week-old pup with a normal heartbeat.] However, as the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, I wasn't pregnant at all.

THIS IS A DARK ROMANCE FEATURING DARK CONTENT AND MORALLY AMBIGUOUS CHARACTERS. Her new life is a lie. Her fiancé's a liar. And the supposedly dead woman on her couch? She's the worst kind of truth. **** Claire thought she had it all: a perfect fiancé, a beautiful home, a successful career. Until she finds out her relationship is built on a decade of deceit and secrets. Her supposedly dead rival, the woman her fiancé, Levi, claimed to have grieved, is back—and the worst twist of all? She's the same woman who raised Levi as his stepmother. Desperate to escape the fallout, Claire drives headlong into the night, only to crash her car and be saved by a mysterious stranger. He claims to be Zeke her long-lost lover, the man she shared a passionate past with, a life she has no memory of. Now, Claire is trapped between two men: Levi, the manipulative but tormented fiancé, who is fighting desperately to prove his love and earn her forgiveness, and Zeke, the stranger who feels dangerously familiar and holds the key to the woman she used to be. Which lie will save her, and which truth will finally break her?

For five years of our marriage, Matthew Spark was my entire world. I abandoned my career, severed ties with my family, and molded myself into the perfect wife for him. I believed our love was unshakable, and that our marriage certificate was the ultimate proof of it. Until the day I saw him with my own eyes—holding another woman in his arms as he stepped into our home. “Ava, let me introduce you,” he said, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. “This is Sophie Spears, and her daughter, Ella. They’ll be living here from now on.” I froze. I had seen her face before—tucked in the drawer of his desk, in his wallet, even as the wallpaper on his phone. And in that instant, I realized the cruel truth: I was the unnecessary outsider. The interloper. The greater insult came when I confronted him. He calmly produced a marriage certificate—his and Sophie’s marriage was three months before ours. That was the moment I learned my marriage had been nothing but a farce. That I wasn’t even significant enough to be a mistress. And in that moment, I laughed. Oh, Matthew. Did you forget who the largest investor in Spark Enterprise was?

Seven years after my death, an engagement invitation from my ex-girlfriend arrives at my house. Back then, I had broken up with her in my lowest, most desperate days and married someone else. Now, she has reinvented herself as a rising powerhouse worth hundreds of billions, driven by revenge and eager to see me regret everything and beg for mercy. Unfortunately for her, I am not the one who shows up. She looks around in open contempt, convinced my absence means guilt, shame, and fear. When I finally appear, all she sees is an urn.

For five years, I was married to the heir of the Romano family, Italy's biggest crime family. Every night, he'd hold me and whisper, "Just give me an heir, and I'll give him the entire Romano empire." But I never got pregnant, and the Don's disappointment in me grew with every passing month. Until I found out my husband had been secretly swapping my folic acid for birth control pills. I was still reeling from the fury when I saw a post from his ex-girlfriend: an ultrasound photo. Her caption was sweet and smug: “Ten weeks along. Vincent said he can’t wait to meet the baby.” Seeing the flood of congratulations, my mind was made up. I found the contact info for my ex-boyfriend—the one who’d spent the last five years trying to get me back. I sent him a single text. 【Give me one month. Then I’m coming with you.】

To take care of my paralyzed mother-in-law, I quit my job and spent three years as a full-time househusband. That day, after cleaning up her waste, I hid in the bathroom with a cigarette between my fingers and came across a post on my wife’s boss’ Instagram. [You’re meant to be with me in the end. Since that freeloader can’t give you happiness, let me take you to the paradise of Maldev.] Above the caption were two plane tickets. Someone commented below. [That homemaker husband of hers is definitely clinging onto her. After all, she’s his meal ticket.] The boss replied. [Don’t worry. Tonight she’ll go home and come clean. She’ll say the company was caught falsifying accounts and is facing massive fines, and that she might need to serve jail time. [To keep that guy from getting dragged into it, the only option is divorce. He’s as timid as a mouse and will take any chance to flee.] I stared at the screen, stunned, until the cigarette burned my fingers. Ten minutes later, my wife rushed home, panic written all over her face. She dropped her bag on the floor. “Honey, something’s gone wrong with the company’s finances. They’re accusing us of falsifying accounts. I was solely responsible for the accounts. I might need to serve 10 years in prison, plus fines of more than ten thousand dollars. “We need to sign the papers before they seize our house. I don’t want to drag you and mom into this.”