My name is Alexandra Wentworth. To the outside world, I am an heiress, an honor student, a doll who speaks in the softest register and never lets her smile slip. All of it is a performance. Two years ago, I gave my first night to Leonardo Cortez. Beneath the moonlight and the flowering vines, the golden boy whispered that I was the only one he loved. Then he vanished, leaving me alone. I thought I hated him. Until he reappeared in my apartment. To uncover the truth behind my mother's death, I had no choice but to strike a dangerous bargain with him-partners who share a bed. In the chill of Lake Como, he kissed me savagely. In the heat of Miami, he asked me if I would promise never to leave him. I told him I was someone without a heart. Until I traced the murder of my mother back to its true architect. In that moment, I tore off every mask I had ever worn. I walked into the family gala with a gun and a file of evidence. And he-the mafia heir-dropped to one knee before all those watching eyes, and begged me to let him be the one to follow me into hell. That was when I understood: we were both living in a world of counterfeits, yet we had spent all our days trying to become the one authentic thing in each other's sight. Deception is our camouflage. Revenge is the theme. And love is the one artifact that needs no authentication between two souls mapped entirely in scars.

With scarred wrists and eyes that have seen too much, Sylvia Capote returns from an overseas sanatorium to the fire-scarred family estate in New England, determined to uncover the truth behind her mother's death. Yet she finds her stepbrother, August, waiting for her at the scene of her mother's demise-part gentleman, part jailer. She believed she came back only for vengeance-until he kisses her amidst the ruins, letting her taste blood and ashes. She plays the piano for him, the notes halting at the very measure he had taught her. All that is certain is that now they have only each other, and this manor rebuilt upon sin. * If you believe the hottest embers conceal the most enduring love, and tenderness is the sharpest blade-bookmark this. Regular updates until they find life and death in each other amidst the ruins.

【Hook】 Her arrogant ex-husband forced her to sign divorce papers for the scheming woman he called his Beatrice, unaware that the capital she was about to control would soon acquire his entire empire. 【Blurb】 For three years, she played the role of the docile stand-in wife. When he slid the divorce papers across the table for the sake of the woman he idolized as his Beatrice-a manipulator in saint's clothing-she signed with elegance. But he never knew that the woman he shared a bed with each night was, in truth, the shadow mastermind behind an international luxury cosmetics empire, the designated heir to a hedge fund fortune, and a phoenix risen from ashes seeking vengeance for twelve lost family lives. Her true identity shattered London's elite. As she turned to leave, the Executive Director of Aurelian Capital burst into the room, bowing deeply to her retreating figure. "Madam Aurora, the private jet is ready. The Geneva Summit awaits your chairwomanship." Her ex-husband's wine glass shattered in his hand, the ice-blue calm of his eyes cracking for the first time. The real game had just begun. Even his legitimate elder brother, who had always looked down on her, now gazed at her with something far more dangerous than contempt: desire. When all masks finally fall, the man who once chose a mirage kneels before her, pleading: "Teach me... how to melt for you." 【Content Notes / Trigger Warnings】 - Main Couple: Both are each other's first and only, with a guaranteed Happy Ending (HE). - Themes include: corporate intrigue, emotional manipulation and complex family dynamics. 【Ranking in History】 #1 Heir #1 Heiress #1 Finance #1 Upperclass #1 Loversreunion #1 Kickassheroine #1 Chasingafterher