When His Perfect Mask Shattered, I Awoke の小説・ストーリー

There's no time for second chances with a guy who humiliated and took everything from you. Instead, just date his uncle. Cassie was in love. She would do anything for Trent, burn the whole world if she had to. But how did he repay her, he cheated on her with her sister. Trent sent her to rock bottom, ruined her image, and when he was done, he divorced her. After his betrayal, Cassie has to start from the ground up. She wants revenge, and when she meets her prince charming, they form an unstoppable team. Will their joint quest for revenge lead to a promising romance?

I pleaded with my husband Cedric Fleetham over and over, and finally, he agreed to take our daughter camping in the mountains for her birthday. When I found her late the next night, she was already gone. She lay at the foot of the mountain, her tiny hand still clutching a drawing of our family. As I knelt beside her, my heart shattered. Meanwhile, Cedric was busy updating his social media. His post read, [You and our daughter are my treasures,] and it was accompanied by a photo, where he stood beside his childhood sweetheart and held hands with another little girl, watching the sunset. And there, in the corner of the picture, was a tiny hand—my daughter’s hand. The cruelest truth of all was that my daughter took that photo.

Madeleine Júlia Cordeiro lives in a quiet, plant-filled apartment in the rougher part of Chicago. She’s twenty-one, broke, vegan, and studying animal science at the local community college. She cries over rescue dogs, talks to her plants like they’re her best friends, and thinks violence is something that only happens in action movies. Her life is calm, predictable, and painfully ordinary. Until he bleeds all over her floor. Adriano Capone is violence in human form—shot, hunted, and very much the kind of man her sweet little heart should run from. He’s everything she hates: violent, dangerous, cruel in the way only a mafia prince can be. He’s everything she’s sworn to avoid but he's hurt and Maddie has a soft spot for lost things. So, she stitches him up. And he stitches himself into her life. He's the devil incarnate. She's never even slapped someone. But fate doesn't care about perfect matches... It threw fire into the hands of a flower girl.

Six years ago, a corporate acquisition deal I handled went up in flames, and 50 billion dollars vanished into thin air. Bankrupt investors spray red paint all over my front door for a year straight. Dad died from a stroke, and Mom lost her mind and disappeared. I ended up doing six years in prison for embezzlement. After I got out, I changed my name and started delivering food in downtown, running myself ragged for a few bucks per delivery. But then my ex-wife, Shirley Pearce, showed up, and the entire delivery station ground to a halt. She had become a financial powerhouse, a regular on the covers of business magazines. Reporters blocked my delivery scooter, shoving microphones in my face. "Mr. Marcus Quinn, Ms. Pearce has been single for six years, paid off all your debts, and she's been waiting for you to come home!" I stared at that perfectly made-up woman with her adoring eyes and felt nothing but disgust. That so-called "devoted" ex-wife of mine? Six years ago, she had forged company seals to help her boy toy short the stock market. Then, when everything fell apart, she threw me under the bus to save herself.

On the drive from our Mating Ceremony, Carter’s voice cut the silence like a blade. "I fucked someone else." He tapped the passenger seat, grinning. "She was right there yesterday. We didn't even make it out of the car." The betrayal hit me like a physical blow, a sickening echo of the past. My throat locked; my chest throbbed with a hollow, crushing ache. "Now I finally get Jake," Carter drawled. "Chloe’s a goddamn firecracker in Heat. That scent? It leveled me." Jake was my ex. Chloe had been my best friend—until I caught them in bed five years ago. When my world collapsed then, Carter was the one who pulled me from the wreckage. Now, he had crawled into the same bed. I was drowning all over again.

I was born a male Omega, but raised as a Beta. I had no scent, no voice, and no freedom. My uncle had killed my parents to seize their company, and I was spared only to serve as a puppet heir. But when my suppressed heat broke through during a public gala, the ruthless Alpha Prince of the North caught my scent. And he didn’t just recognize it. He claimed me. Now, with the kingdom watching, he won’t let me go. But if he learns who I really am… He might protect me—or finish what my uncle started.

My body has a special nourishing effect. However, both of my marriage engagements were called off. My first fiance was a religious man who broke his celibacy to make love to me. He canceled the engagement because he couldn't forgive himself. My second fiance was my childhood friend. He made love to me every night. Then, he apologized to me and said I couldn't satisfy him. When I was about to take my life, I saw them acting out a pure love story at my friend's bedside. "Sophia, I won't force you if you don't want to do it." "For you, I'm fine with keeping our relationship platonic. I don't mind if we never do it. I can hold myself back!" They treat her gently, as if she will shatter with a single kiss. I put the noose away and call my father. "Dad, I'm not against it anymore. You can send me to the son of the Lowell family to treat his impotence."

Penelope Lorenzo, a woman who’d just lost everything and in utter shambles. She had never imagined that life would bring her to this point. Brayden Giovanni, the big, masked mafia who shouldn’t be trifled with. Billionaire by day and Don by night. Thrust in each other’s worlds by circumstances beyond their control and some that seemed to be in his control. But with danger lurking from their forgotten pasts, including a serial killer on the loose, choices must be made or consequences abound. What happens when their cocoon is threatened by forces they can’t seem to identify? What happens when she leaves after unraveling his secrets and almost gets trafficked? Will she embrace he who would raze the underworld for her or will she leave with the fruit of their passion?

"Should I take off my clothes now?" she added while staring at me from head to toe. Shit. Why would she ask that in front of me? Wasn't taking off her clothes my job like I always do to the rest of my customers? "No. Just put them on, please." I respectfully retorted before I slid to the bed. Put my backpack on the floor and applied a bit of my wolf's aggression rushing at her. Before I jumped on the bed, I shortly took off my clothes until nothing was left but my undies. "Wait." She quickly muttered partly mixed with regrets. To my surprise, she moved her face and pushed my chest a few inches away from her. "Why?" could not help but ask. "Wasn't this what I am here for? To please you?" I said in an embarrassing tone. It was at this moment I sensed her uncomfortable and regretful expression. I did not come here to get embarrassed. My job was to please her. Unless there was something Joseph forgot to inform me. Never expected this to happen. "No... no! It's just…" she suddenly dropped her gaze from me. "It's just. I'm still a virgin. Please, don't get mad at me." I don't know if it was a perfect opportunity for me to burst out laughing when she almost got me on that note. A virgin wanted to have sex with me. Who on earth would sell her virginity to a person wearing a black facemask?

“You kissed me like it meant something,” Samantha whispered. “Then disappeared like I never existed.” Anthony stared at her, jaw tight. “You heard half a sentence and ran. I spent years thinking you regretted me.” ----------- Samantha Meadows just got the chance of a lifetime, skating at Nationals with Anthony Vale, the golden boy of the rink in figure skating… and the most insufferable man she’s ever met. He’s arrogant, untouchable, and still technically partnered with his injured and possibly returning teammate, while She’s picking the broken pieces of her career after her ex dumped her for a flashier and better partner. Now forced into a temporary pairing, they have days to master trust, chemistry, and choreography, or crash hard under the spotlight. But the ice isn’t the only thing cracked. Anthony’s hiding a secret that could end his career… and hers. And when Samantha discovers the truth, she realizes she’s not just fighting for a medal… she’s fighting for her heart. In a world where one mistake can cost everything, how do you trust the person who never lets you in… and still holds the pieces of your past?