Velvet Lies
- Reads 109
- Votes 14
- Parts 16
Ongoing2h 10m
Last published Mon, Sep 29, 2025
Amara never belonged in a place like The Black Orchid, a bar where the rich drown in whiskey and whispers, and secrets are dressed in silk. She came because her best friend begged her to. One night, one drink, then she'd disappear back to her quiet, predictable life.
Until she saw him.
Lucian. Dark, dangerous, and devastating in a way that makes you forget to breathe. A bartender with a gaze that strips you bare. He shouldn't care who she is, but he does. And that makes him lethal.
Because in The Black Orchid, nothing is free. Not even desire. Every look is a deal, every touch a trap. And Amara just stepped into the one man who makes the rules and breaks them.
But what happens when the game stops being about power and starts being about her?
Love in this world doesn't heal. It ruins.
All Rights Reserved
#922
bartender
Join the largest storytelling communityGet personalized story recommendations, save your favourites to your library, and comment and vote to grow your community.
You may also like
Married To The Ruthless Billionaire
Amara Cole never dreamed of marrying a billionaire. But when her mother's hospital bills grew unbearable, she signed a contract that bound her to the cold, ruthless Lucian Hale. One year as his wife. No love. No expectations. No freedom. Lucian is everything she should fear-arrogant, powerful, and heartless. To him, Amara is nothing but a pawn in his world of business and betrayal. Yet the more she endures his cruel words and icy indifference, the more sparks begin to burn between them. But their marriage is far from simple. His jealous ex will do anything to destroy her. His father calls her unworthy. And another man's kindness makes her question if love is possible outside the contract. Caught between duty and desire, Amara must find her strength before the year ends. Because when a ruthless billionaire starts to fall... the contract is the last thing he'll obey.
His Billion-Dollar Secret"
When struggling waitress Amara agrees to be a stand-in date for a mysterious businessman, she never expected him to be the heir of a billion-dollar empire hiding a scandal that could ruin his family. What starts as a contract turns into undeniable chemistry-but can she survive the lies, betrayal, and media storm that comes with loving a man the world wants to destroy?
Love & Pain (BTD Strade x Reader)
It was just supposed to be a fun night out at a bar to cure your growing melancholy. But everything changed when you met him. When you met Strade. When he abducted you, your life took a turn for the worst. And little did you know, not even death could save you from this nightmareComplete
𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦
BOOK ON HOLD-- writers block 😔 𝗜𝗩𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗦 is the perfect little ballerina - soft-spoken, obedient, and untouched by the world that sold her. To everyone else, she's just a quiet girl with lowered eyes and pointed toes. But 𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗔𝗘𝗟 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢 knows better. He sees the way her hands tremble. The way her smile doesn't reach her eyes. The way she obeys like she's afraid not to. And it pulls him in. She was promised to him-a contract sealed in blood, not love-and now she belongs to a man as cold as he is calculated and controlling. Rafael doesn't crave her affection. He isn't looking to be wanted. What he wants is to unravel her. To possess every piece of the girl the world calls delicate. But Ivory isn't fragile. She's fractured. And the closer he gets, the more she falls apart for him. In a world of shadows, power, and pain, their connection becomes something twisted. Addictive. Dangerous. Because when you give yourself to a monster... you don't get to choose what parts of you he keeps. And when control slips... Desire takes its place. And Rafael never loses. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ・❥・ "Careful, Ivory. I play rougher when someone thinks they can outmatch me." ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ・❥・ { 18+ | Dark Mafia Romance } 𝖢𝖮𝖯𝖸𝖶𝖱𝖨𝖳𝖤 𝟤𝟢𝟤5 @𝗐𝗋𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗂𝗆
Empire of Scars
**She saves lives. He takes them.** Amara Jensen has survived poverty, her parents' addictions, and raising twelve siblings while fighting her way through medical school. She's learned the hard way that men leave, love destroys, and trust is a death sentence. Then a stranger pulls her from a dark alley where thugs left her broken and bleeding-and she can't forget his haunted eyes or the way he made her feel safe for the first time in her life. Cassian Vitale doesn't do relationships. The mafia boss built his empire on fear and control, inheriting power at seventeen through blood and violence. At twenty-nine, he trusts no one, feels nothing, and rules his city with absolute authority. Until he hears her scream. Until he can't stop coming back. Until she becomes the one thing he'll burn the world down to protect. One night. One brutal attack. One impossible connection between a struggling medical student and the most dangerous man in the city. But when jealous rivals strike, buried trauma resurfaces, and an unexpected pregnancy binds them together, Amara faces an impossible choice: Can she trust the dark protector who makes her feel whole? Or will loving Cassian Vitale cost her everything she's fought so hard to build? **Sometimes the monster is the hero. Sometimes safety comes with blood on its hands. Sometimes love means surrendering to the one person who terrifies you most.** *A dark mafia romance about two shattered souls finding healing in each other's broken pieces.*
Touched by Ruin
*MAJOR TW* There are scenes of death, blood, gore, attempted rape, sexual scenes, betrayals, zombies, etc! Dani has lost everything-her family, her friends, her future. Even before the collapse, her world was already crumbling when she discovered her husband's betrayal. Now, alone in the ruins of civilization, trust is a luxury she can't afford. Survival is all that matters... until she's ambushed and nearly destroyed by the cruelty of others. That's when he finds her. A silent guardian with a bow and blades, the stranger saves her life-but not out of kindness. Hardened by loss and betrayal of his own, he keeps his distance, both emotionally and physically. The world has no place for softness, and certainly no place for love. But as the days stretch into weeks, and the silence between them begins to speak, Dani and her reluctant protector find something unexpected in the wreckage: hope. Scarred by the past, shaped by the fall, they must decide if trusting each other is a risk worth taking-and if love can rise from the ashes of a broken world.
FRAGRANCE OF YOU
She was a nameless staff in his towering empire. He was a man destined for greatness... and already claimed by another. But fate-cruel and cunning-tied their lives together with a lie wrapped in roses and regret. Juliette never asked for love. She only wanted a quiet life, a dream of her own perfume shop, and maybe... a place to belong. Sebastian Whitmore, cold and calculated, offered her marriage-not out of love, but out of obligation. Hidden from the world, sealed with promises that meant nothing to him. What began as a forced union slowly turned into something unspoken. She cared for him in ways he never noticed. He wore the scents she made, breathed in the comfort she left behind... Yet he never knew it was her. Until she was gone. Until everything fell apart. Until the woman he never chose became the one his heart could never forget. And now-he's chasing ghosts in the wind, searching for the scent that once felt like home. 📌 Trigger Warning: This story contains themes of death and grief, which may be triggering for some readers. Please proceed with care.Complete
Default Title - LOVE SO CRUEL
Love So Cruel She never asked for his love. He never gave her a choice. When Amara crossed paths with Kai, she thought she had met a man carved from shadows-dangerous, merciless, and untouchably cold. But beneath his ruthless exterior was an obsession that bound her to him tighter than chains. What began as fear twisted into something darker-something she couldn't escape. He wanted her in every way, wanted to own her, even if it meant breaking her apart. And the cruelest part of all... was how much her heart still ached for him. In a world where love feels like punishment and desire cuts deeper than knives, Amara must decide: surrender to the darkness that claims her, or fight for the fragile light still flickering inside. A tale of passion, obsession, and a love so cruel it hurts.Complete
And In The End
She gave up her career, her dreams, and everything she was.. for a love that promised forever. But forever was a lie. When the truth shatters her perfect world, Amara is left with nothing. No husband. No job. Not even the son she gave up everything to raise. Everyone thinks she's broken. But they forgot one thing. You can't bury a woman who remembers who she is. And in the end... he may have walked away, but she's the one who survived. Trigger Warning: This story dives deep into grief, heartbreak, and the raw, unfiltered emotions that come with loss. Because healing is never a straight line.Complete
After the Vow
Sometimes, love arrives too late-and stays too long. Amara never meant to fall for him. Eli was the groom-her best friend's fiancé. But one unexpected kiss after the wedding changed everything. Caught in a whirlwind of guilt, longing, and the silence of unspoken love, Amara chooses to disappear. Years later, fate reunites them on another wedding trip, forcing old feelings to resurface. One night. One swim. One moment that changes everything again. Now, Amara must decide if moving on means forgetting-or finally forgiving herself. A slow-burn, emotional romance about timing, friendship, betrayal, and the ache of what might have been.Complete
Amara Cole never dreamed of marrying a billionaire. But when her mother's hospital bills grew unbearable, she signed a contract that bound her to the cold, ruthless Lucian Hale. One year as his wife. No love. No expectations. No freedom. Lucian is everything she should fear-arrogant, powerful, and heartless. To him, Amara is nothing but a pawn in his world of business and betrayal. Yet the more she endures his cruel words and icy indifference, the more sparks begin to burn between them. But their marriage is far from simple. His jealous ex will do anything to destroy her. His father calls her unworthy. And another man's kindness makes her question if love is possible outside the contract. Caught between duty and desire, Amara must find her strength before the year ends. Because when a ruthless billionaire starts to fall... the contract is the last thing he'll obey.
More detailsContent Guidelines