LOVE PAINTED IN LIES
Prologue
Some stories begin with love.
Some begin with war.
But theirs began with a promise, one whispered under the fading glow of a streetlamp, sealed with youthful dreams and a future full of light. Neither of them knew how quickly love could twist into something darker... or how far a wounded heart could go just to feel whole again.
This is not a tale
Chapters
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Chapter 5
Mila packed quickly, throwing clothes into a small travel bag with shaky hands. Every sound in her apartment felt louder than usual, like the walls were listening. She couldn't stop replaying that voice in her mind. Calm, steady, confident. Someone who knew her name. Someone who wanted her to hear them.
She zipped the bag and stepped back into the living room where Adrian stood completely still, his eyes fixed on the floor as if trying to solve a puzzle he already feared the answer to.
I'm ready she said quietly.
He lifted his head. The tension in his shoulders loosened just a little when he saw her. Good. Let's go.
But the moment he touched the doorknob, he stopped. Mila watched his fingers freeze around the metal. He pressed his ear gently against the door.
What is it she whispered.
He didn't reply. Instead he stepped back and motioned for her to move behind him again. Mila's heart thudded painfully as he opened the door a crack and looked out.
Empty hallway.
He opened it wider and stepped outside first. Mila followed him, gripping her bag tightly. The hallway looked normal but too silent. Their footsteps echoed as they walked to the elevator. Adrian kept glancing behind them like he expected someone to appear.
As they reached the ground floor, he took her hand. Not gently. Not romantically. More like he was afraid she would vanish if he let go.
Stay close he said.
She didn't argue.
Outside, the night felt colder than before. The street was empty except for a single black car parked across the road, engine off, windows dark. Mila felt her body stiffen when she saw it.
Adrian noticed too.
Get in my car he said quietly.
As they approached his car, Mila looked back one last time. The black car still hadn't moved, but something about it made her skin crawl. Her instincts whispered that someone was inside watching.
The moment Adrian started his car, the black one's headlights snapped on.
Mila gasped. Adrian cursed under his breath and pulled out quickly.
The car followed.
Mila's heart pounded as the two cars moved through the quiet streets. Adrian took sharp turns, trying to lose them, but the black car stayed behind them. It didn't speed. It didn't honk. It followed with calm control, as if it knew exactly what Adrian was trying to do.
Who is that she whispered gripping the seat.
Adrian didn't answer. His jaw tightened as he turned left again. When he looked into the rear mirror, his expression changed.
It's only one person he said. That means they want to be seen.
What does that mean Mila asked.
It means this isn't an attack he said. It's a warning.
She swallowed. Adrian's tone wasn't fearful. It was annoyed. Worried. Angry.
And that scared her even more.
Finally he managed to lose the car by taking a narrow road through an old neighborhood. He didn't slow down until they reached his building, a taller apartment complex with security lights and guards posted outside.
Mila stepped out, her legs trembling.
Adrian placed a hand gently on her back. Come on. You'll be safe here.
She followed him into the building, still shaken but trying to hide it. The elevator ride felt too quiet. She studied Adrian's face, hoping he would finally explain. But he stayed silent, staring straight ahead.
His apartment was clean, simple, filled with art supplies and sketches pinned on the walls. She had been there only once before, but it felt different now. Heavy. Tense. Like the walls held secrets.
You can stay in the guest room tonight Adrian said. I'll take the couch.
She looked at him. Adrian sit down for a minute. We need to talk.
He hesitated before lowering himself onto the couch. Mila sat across from him, her hands clasped together.
That voice at my door she said. You looked like you knew them.
Adrian's eyes flickered. I didn't say that.
You didn't have to she replied. Your face told me.
He sighed and leaned back. Mila if I tell you everything right now, you might panic. But I promise you what happened is connected to something from my past. Something I tried to leave behind.
Her pulse quickened. Are you in danger
He shook his head. I'm not worried about me.
Then who are you worried about
His silence was answer enough.
Mila felt her throat tighten. Why would someone be watching me
Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. Because you're close to me. They think hurting you will hurt me. And they're right.
Her breath hitched a little. She didn't know how to respond to that.
Adrian stood and walked to a desk drawer. After a moment he pulled out a small folded piece of paper and handed it to her.
This came a week ago he said. Before everything started.
Mila unfolded it. The paper shook in her hands when she saw the message.
She deserves to know what you did.
Her breath caught. Adrian looked away.
What did you do she whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment, like he was fighting the urge to tell her everything or nothing at all.
I broke someone's trust he said. Someone who doesn't forgive easily.
Mila stepped closer. Adrian that doesn't explain why they're watching my apartment. Why they know my name.
He met her eyes slowly. Mila this person... they don't hurt people physically. They destroy people emotionally. They take what you love and twist it until it turns into fear.
Mila felt a cold shiver run through her.
What is their name she asked.
Adrian looked at her for a long moment. Then he answered.
Rylan.
The name hit the air like a drop of ink falling into water, spreading tension instantly.
Who is Rylan she asked.
Adrian looked away again. Someone who used to know me too well.
Mila's stomach flipped. Friend. Ex. Business partner. She didn't know. And Adrian wasn't explaining.
Can we trust the police she asked.
He shook his head. Rylan is careful. Smart. Nothing they do is illegal. It's psychological. They appear in shadows and disappear before anyone can react.
Mila felt her chest tighten. So what do we do
Adrian's eyes hardened with something she had never seen in him before. Determination mixed with fear.
We stay alert. We don't play into their games. And Mila...
He stepped closer. His voice softened.
I won't let anything happen to you. Not now. Not ever.
Before she could answer, there was a soft thud at the door.
Both of them froze.
Adrian approached the door slowly and opened it a crack.
A single white envelope lay on the floor.
No footsteps. No whisper. No person in sight.
He picked it up and handed it to her.
Mila opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was just one line.
You should ask him who he used to be.
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7.7
The Cameron family clinic smelled like lemon polish and impending death. For three years, I'd been a vessel in a cold, forced marriage to Underboss Kade Cameron. But today, the doctor's words would shatter everything.
"No heartbeat," Dr. Finch declared, then, "Stage IV gastric cancer. Terminal." A double death sentence. As the world tilted, a news alert flashed: Kade, my husband, parading his mistress, Carla Shaw, across Europe-"a love that defies family lines."
Dying and carrying his dead child, I overheard nurses gossip Kade wanted me gone for his "true love." I chose to feel the D&C agony, cleansing him from my soul. Stumbling out, Kade accused me of killing his child, then rushed Carla, feigning illness, to OB/GYN, ignoring my bleeding and dying state.
Back at the mansion, I vomited blood, my body failing. Kade watched with disgust, dismissing my terminal diagnosis as a "performance." He called me "collateral," a "debt payment," then left me for his mistress. The last shred of loyalty shattered, replaced by chilling clarity.
I signed the divorce papers he dismissed as a "tantrum," leaving his ring. No longer a Cameron, no longer his possession. With Fluffy, I made one call, choosing to die on my own terms, finally free.
8.4
"How can you smile like that when neither of your fathers are here at your own wedding reception?" Pond asked, eyeing Dunk, who stood in the gallery, smiling towards his newly-wedded husband.
Dunk's smile didn't waver, but his eyes darkened. He turned to Pond, voice sharp, "Do you think I don't care? That I'd go against them on purpose?"
Pond responded without hesitation, "Aren't you doing exactly that?"
"No, I'm not," Dunk snapped. His voice dropped lower, colder. "I'm standing here for my pride-the same pride he crushed. I'm not a child who goes crying to his parents. He destroyed me, P'Pond. Now it's my turn. I'm going to destroy his life-completely."
Pond looked shaken. "You can't marry someone for revenge, Dunk. I told you-I'm here for you. I'll never let anyone from the Guthithanan family hurt you again."
Dunk's voice cracked as he exploded, "But he crossed the line that night!" He scanned the room and quickly pulled Pond into a quieter corner.
His voice was low and furious. "He shattered everything I had. And now, with this marriage, I'm going to make him live with the consequences. He's trapped with me now-forever. I won't let him walk away so easily."
His gaze flicked across the room-directly to Joong, who stood beside Sarawat, calmly speaking to a business partner. Joong caught Dunk's stare and instinctively looked his way.
Dunk raised his champagne glass with a mocking smile. A toast to war.
Joong clenched his jaw, returning the gesture coolly-but his burning eyes slid to Pond, full of rage and warning.
7.1
"You broke the first rule, Princess. That means I get to take something from you. I'll start with this," he said, tugging at my panties and a needy throb ran straight through my core.
"Kyren, don't," I tried but it was to no avail.
He roughly pulled at the flimsy material, covering my most intimate part. The sound of lace ripping, filled the room. And the cool air from the AC bit into my exposed skin.
His hands slid up my back. He unclasped my bra with ease and it soundlessly dropped to the floor. His gaze raked over my trembling form with a satisfied hunger.
"You're not a cheerleader tonight. You're just mine. And I'm going to spend the next few hours showing you exactly what happens when you break my rules," he stated, before pushing my legs wide open with his knee.
××
Hailey thought she could handle the "Ice King." She thought she could seduce him, win the bet, and walk away with her heart intact. But Kyren sees right through her games. He doesn't want her seduction, he wants her submission.
As the lines between a dare and reality blur, Hailey finds herself trapped between her father's expectations and a man who wants to claim every inch of her. In a game where the rules keep changing, Hailey is about to learn that the Ice King doesn't just freeze people out... he burns them down.
9.3
They call Dante Moretti the ruthless and heartless mafia boss. Seven years ago, he made a
deal with Elara Vance. But he used her, broke her, and planned to send her to a medical facility
after she produces an heir.
Scared for her life, Elara ran away. Now, an entirely different person has returned to New York.
She doesn't want his money, and she certainly doesn't want his heart, unless it's on her
operating table.
The girl he destroyed is dead. The woman who replaced her is the only one who can keep him
alive. He's dying for a second chance, but he's just waiting for the first cut.
7.7
Five years of war, three peace summits. One rule that never changed. Ray Carter and Levi Morgan stay on opposite sides, until the night fate decides otherwise. Ray feels nothing, rules everything and answers to no one. He built his empire on control and his reputation on fear, and he has never once lost either.
Then Levi walks into the room. His enemy, his rival. The heir of the pack that took everything from him, his mate. One bond, two men on opposite sides of a war neither of them started. Laws older than their bloodlines demand they reject each other, walk away, and pretend it never happened. But the bond doesn't care about laws and neither, it turns out, does Ray. Someone already knows their secret and someone who has been waiting for exactly this moment.
The question isn't whether Ray and Levi can survive each other. It's whether either of them will survive what's coming and who exactly wants them to find out the hard way?
9.4
I was the daughter of a defeated Alpha, kneeling as a broken war spoil before the ruthless Lycan King, Kaelen Varg.
Through a twisted misunderstanding with a spiked drink, the tyrant lost control. But when he attacked me, an impossible spark ignited between us. His inner wolf roared in triumph, recognizing me as his fated Mate, and he claimed me in the heat of the night.
But the next morning, he woke up with another woman's name on his lips. Realizing he had surrendered to a lowly tribute, his eyes filled with absolute, violent loathing. To erase the humiliation of our bond, he shoved me to the floor like garbage.
"Take her to the Barrens. Leave her there. Make sure she never comes back."
His Beta dragged me to a sealed, sun-baked wasteland crawling with mutated beasts. They clamped silver cuffs onto my wrists, searing my flesh and suppressing my wolf, leaving me to die a slow, agonizing death.
I lay in the scorching dirt, the silver burning into my bones. I couldn't understand how a fated Mate could be so merciless. Why was my life worth less than his twisted pride? Why did I have to be fed to monsters just so he could keep his throne spotless?
The cold rage in my core solidified into a diamond-hard resolve. I forced my bleeding body to stand in the desolate wasteland. I will not die here. I will survive, and I will live to see his kingdom burn.