fading facades: love beyond the deal

Wealthy heiress Lina Veyne is forced into an engagement with ruthless heir Lucien Moro to save her family, trapped like a bird in a gilded cage. At the IRIS Club’s secret Phantom show, she's shocked to find masked dancer ""Seven"" is Stian Quinn, her first love who was declared dead at sea 5 years prior. This is all Lucien’s cruel scheme: he faked Stian's death, and uses the supposedly amnesiac man to break and tame Lina once and for all. When Lina's reckless defiance only brings brutal punishment down on Stian, she puts on a mask of obedience to Lucien, while secretly plotting her revenge. She soon makes a shocking discovery: Stian's amnesia is a lie. He's been undercover at IRIS this whole time, gathering damning evidence to take down this dark empire for good.

My husband—the mafia boss—loses his first love to suicide. Celeste Reyes couldn't accept that he was marrying me. Since then, Darius Sterling mourns her publicly every day, and we become the kind of couple that despises each other more than anyone else. However, when the Moretti family of Eastbourne sends assassins after me, Darius takes the bullet meant for me. The bullet is poisoned. As he lies weakly in my arms, he whispers, "I saved your life. My debt to your mother is repaid. In our next life, let's not meet again. "I don't want to hate you anymore. I just hope you'll always be the girl next door. Now, it's time for me to be with Celeste." And just like that, he dies in my arms. I cry my heart out, but Darius never looks at me again. Only then do I realize how foolish and childish our hatred has been all these years. Later, after I eliminate the Morettis, I take my own life for him. Yet, when I open my eyes again, I'm back at 20—the year of our engagement. I reject my father's plan for an arranged marriage and choose to go to New Verden to manage the family business. This time, I'll stay far away from Darius and give him and Celeste my blessings.

Vera Nelson has spent three years as a devoted wife, supporting her husband Jason Ford's rise as a star lawyer. But when his first love, Nia Jones, returns, he begins to neglect Vera's feelings, and distance grows between them. Once a brilliant lawyer herself,Vera quietly walks away and returns to the legal world.When she rises to fame again, Jason finally realizes the legend he's long admired is the very woman who once gave up everything for him.

Finley Sharpe, a fish vendor, enters a contract marriage with Yale Shaw. By spreading rumors and flattering him,she wins his trust and affection. But just after they confess their love,a head injury restores Finley's lost memories—while erasing all memories of Yale. Desperate to win her back, Yale pulls every trick he can think of... even pretending to be blind.

Vivian saves Enrique, the CEO of York Group, and unexpectedly gets pregnant, resulting in a lame leg.Eight months later, she gives birth prematurely to a baby boy.To pay for her son's medical expenses, Vivian works tirelessly to earn money. Meanwhile, Enrique is also searching for Vivian, vowing to lavish her with all his love!

Lucas Fuller was obsessively in love with Vivian Ashford, daughter of his family's driver, pursuing her from college and finally getting married. However, Vivian's heart belonged to Alfie Collier, and together they conspired to kill Lucas by exploiting his diabetes, tempting him with food until he died. In his final moments, Lucas witnessed a heartfelt confession from Isabel Harlow, who had also once struggled with obesity. Upon being reborn, Lucas returns to Alfie's birthday celebration where he sees Vivian attempting the same manipulative tactics, using him as an ATM. This time, Lucas changes his fate by exposing Vivian’s deception and publicly professing his love to Isabel, despite facing ridicule. Lucas and Isabel make a pact to win a modeling competition to humiliate Vivian and Alfie.

Right before my wedding, my fiancé, Benjamin Gray, holds another wedding at an old settlement with his true love, who has lung cancer. He holds Jennifer Robinson close and smiles tenderly at her underneath the starry sky. "According to the local customs here, the woman whose wedding is held first is considered a man's actual wife. I might have already registered my marriage with Samantha, but she's more like my mistress." Everyone cheers and blesses them as they toast each other and enter their room for the night. I witness all of this, but I don't cry or kick up a fuss. Instead, I make an appointment for an abortion. I've loved Benjamin for 15 years, but I still can't compare to Jennifer, who is my stepsister. If that's the case, I'll let him go. Later, I join a geological exploration and research team in the South Isles and am cut off from the world. All I leave behind is a divorce agreement and a divorce gift. Benjamin has never cared for me, so it's odd that he loses his mind overnight after my departure.

After her werewolf husband died, pregnant widow Clara is taken in by her powerful mother-in-law Anna, defying clan law. Her brother-in-law, the Wolf King Killian starts as reluctant protector but gradually falls in love with her. Facing jealous rivals and human betrayal, they fight for their forbidden happy ending.

On the day I got pregnant again, August decided to give up on gambling and work to provide for the family. I was so touched that I cried. With trembling hands, I handed him the money I had saved up after working odd jobs for a year. Two of the bank notes fell on the floor, and I picked them up before running after him. When I reached the end of the alley, I saw the mafia members who always came to our doorstep to demand repayment of our debt. They treated August respectfully. Apparently, his poverty was just a facade. “Mr. August, do we still need to surround your house and demand payment tomorrow?” August sat in a Lincoln limousine and said nonchalantly, “No need.” He stared at the ring on his finger and sighed. “It’s been years. It’s enough to prove that her love for me is real. She once worked so hard to pay off my debt that she suffered a miscarriage. “I already betrayed her once. It’s time to tell her about my true identity so that she doesn’t have to work so hard anymore.” But Ivy, his childhood friend, pouted. “You can’t! It’s not time yet to reveal the truth! What if she’s like your previous girlfriends and only cares about your money and your identity as a mafia boss? “You should wait a little longer and see whether she wants to have this baby.” August gave a wistful nod. “Alright. I’ll do as you say. In any case, she has been with me for so long. I don’t think she can leave me now.” I clenched the money in my hands and turned around. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I no longer wanted to live this lie dressed as love.

Chester Joseph and Winifred Sloan were once deeply in love, but a phone call made Chester believe Winifred had another lover and married him only for his wealth. His ex Yvette returned with her daughter, falsely claiming she had battled leukemia, and Chester believed her without question.During a car accident, Chester abandoned the gravely injured Winifred leading to her death. Yvette continued her schemes, pushing Madam Joseph, who knew the truth, into danger, deepening Chester's misunderstandings, and even planning an engagement with him. At the engagement ceremony, Madam Joseph arrived and exposed Yvette's treachery.

The U.S. nuclear medical professor Charlie Clare quits his career for family, but is abandoned as his wife and daughter favor his love rival Isaac. After suffering his family’s ignorance, he decides to leave for the Unicorn Project, which he designed for healing his daughter’s neuro-skel birthmark as his life work. But unaware that Charlie’s burning his life for them, his wife and daughter deepen the rift with Charlie upon reunion and eventually destroy everything Charlie left for them with their own hands before realizing their errors, only to find it too late.

After transmigrating as Yulia Jones—the vicious ex-wife of male lead Jensen Forbes in the novel—she knows the original plot all too well: Yulia aborts their child and divorces him just as his family is sent to the countryside. Determined to rewrite her fate,Yulia devises a new plan, that is to keep her handsome husband by her side and embark on an unexpected journey of love and family.

Bestselling author Edith has harbored a secret crush on firefighter Nolan for a decade. The two entered into a marriage of convenience to resolve family debts. A café explosion left Edith heartbroken; during the crisis, Nolan saved Nancy—a manipulative woman—but ignored Edith, treating her merely as a wife in name only. After Nancy falsely claimed to be pregnant with Nolan’s child, Edith decided to file for divorce. Nolan pleaded with her to keep up the charade of a loving couple for the sake of his ailing father. Nancy seized the opportunity to stir up trouble, while a colleague of Nolan’s began pursuing Edith, provoking Nolan’s intense jealousy. Nancy staged a miscarriage to frame Edith, but surveillance footage ultimately exposed all her lies. Nolan discovered the love Edith had hidden for years through her novels and began clumsily trying to win her back. Finally, after risking his life to save Edith from a fire and severing ties with Nancy, Nolan devoted himself to healing Edith’s emotional wounds, transforming their pragmatic contract marriage into a genuine, deeply loving union.

Lily Arnold saved Tim Nell from a car accident and married into his wealthy family. However, during their four-year marriage, she was met with nothing but indifference. Tim's heart belonged solely to his childhood sweetheart, Sara Buck, leaving no room for Lily's devotion. Empowered by Tim's favoritism, Sara repeatedly schemed against Lily, but Tim always took Sara's side. To cure Sara's nightmares, Tim sacrificed Lily's unborn child. Completely heartbroken, Lily signed the divorce agreement and fled abroad to pursue her artistic dream. Only after she left did Tim realize he had long fallen in love with the wife who had silently given him everything.

Vera Nelson has spent three years as a devoted wife, supporting her husband Jason Ford's rise as a star lawyer. But when his first love, Nia Jones, returns, he begins to neglect Vera's feelings, and distance grows between them. Once a brilliant lawyer herself,Vera quietly walks away and returns to the legal world.When she rises to fame again, Jason finally realizes the legend he's long admired is the very woman who once gave up everything for him.

On their fifth anniversary, Emily discovers that she has merely been a “stand-in” for her boyfriend’s first love, Evelyn. Emily immediately breaks up with Ethan and returns to her old life as an up-and-coming researcher. Having long concealed her status as a brilliant scientist, she earns the support of Daniel, the youngest professor at a prestigious university, and ranks first in gaining admission to the PhD program under her dream advisor. Through hard work and resilience, Emily proves her worth to others and simultaneously exposes the carefully constructed persona that Evelyn built for herself. Only then does David realize exactly what Emily is truly capable of, as well as the love she poured into their relationship, leaving him filled with nothing but deep regret as he watches her flourish in her newly reclaimed life.

In her past life, Christie Reynolds made a fateful mistake in love, falling victim to a misjudgment of character that led to a tragic betrayal. Burned to death as a result, she gets a second chance at life through rebirth. Determined to right the wrongs of her past, she vows to marry the man who had courageously rushed into the fire to save her, even if he was known as a notorious playboy. Initially, she marries him out of deep gratitude, but after the wedding, she finds herself showered with an unprecedented level of affection. It seems she is going to be utterly and completely indulged!

"My vampire husband had a secret no one knew about. The blood slaves he kept in private all had faces strikingly similar to my cousin Sophia. I was born into the Valerie family, with the noble blood that could give a vampire a powerful hybrid heir. I was meant to marry Ethan, heir to the Prince. But the night before the engagement, his younger brother Adrian knelt in the rain in front of me. “Elena, I’d give up everything.” “I love you. You’re all I want.” So I broke the engagement, let my family disown me, and married him without a backward glance. Then I got pregnant. He started keeping me at arm’s length, finding reasons not to touch me, not even willing to stay in the same room as me. Until the night I heard him tell his men: “Once Elena has the baby, we’ll hand it over to Ethan and Sophia.” “Sophia’s health is fragile. I can’t bear to put her through a pregnancy.” That was when I finally understood. Adrian had never loved me. He’d married me only to free up the place beside Ethan for my cousin Sophia. Even the child I’d struggled so hard to carry had already been promised away to the woman he truly loved. I rested a hand on my belly and called my father. “Dad, I was wrong about him.” Two months from now, I would vanish from his world for good. But when I really left Adrian, he went crazy searching for me everywhere. "