Pretend to Be Mine

Pretend to Be Mine

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Elena Ramirez has spent years cleaning up other people's messes-balancing a demanding analyst job by day and side hustles at night to pay off a mountain of family debt. Love was never on her agenda. Then Adrian Harrington, the city's most feared billionaire, makes an offer she can't ignore: pose as his girlfriend to steady his company during a vicious boardroom power struggle. Six months. One contract. No feelings. It should be easy. But each public appearance, each staged kiss, pulls them closer than either planned. The arrangement ignites a firestorm-Adrian's jealous ex fakes a pregnancy, a hacker leaks private photos, a friend betrays them, and even his own family schemes against them. The gossip columns call her a gold digger; rivals call for Adrian's head. Somewhere between whispered confessions and desperate damage control, the line between pretend and real disappears. Now Adrian must choose between the empire he built and the woman he never meant to love, while Elena risks everything-career, reputation, and heart-for a man who was supposed to be temporary. Falling in Pretend delivers a high-stakes contemporary romance bursting with slow-burn chemistry, ruthless betrayals, and twists that will leave readers breathless.

Pretend to Be Mine Chapter 1 When Worlds Collide

I rubbed my temples and stared at the glowing spreadsheets on my laptop screen. The numbers swam in front of my eyes, columns blurring together like waves. The office around me was nearly silent now-just the low hum of computers and the shuffle of the night security guard making his rounds. Most interns had left hours ago, but I was still here, clinging to perfection like it was oxygen. My boss hadn't demanded I stay late. No one was watching me except the shadows stretching long across the glass walls. But mediocrity wasn't an option.

Not here, not at Harrington Enterprises, where excellence was the air everyone breathed-or suffocated without.

My phone buzzed against the desk, vibrating insistently until I reached for it. Maya.

"Don't tell me you're still at that office," she said, laughter spilling through the line. "Elena, it's Friday night."

"I'll leave soon," I promised, leaning back in my chair and pressing the bridge of my nose. "I just want this model finished before Monday."

"You're not a machine," she teased. "Normal people go out, eat ice cream, maybe even kiss someone. You? You date Excel."

"Not everyone has the luxury of being seventeen with no rent to pay." Despite my exhaustion, a smile tugged at my mouth. "Besides, if I do well here, maybe everything changes for us."

Her laughter softened. "I know. You're working so hard, and I love you for it. But don't forget to breathe, okay? You deserve more than stress and takeout dinners."

The words lodged in my chest. I hated when Maya went sentimental; it reminded me of our parents' absence, of how I was more than a sister-I was guardian, provider, protector. Every late night was for both of us.

"I'll be fine," I said quietly.

"You better be. Because if you collapse, I'm too delicate to drag you to the hospital."

I chuckled and hung up, the heaviness in my chest easing just a fraction. Maya always had that effect. I shut my laptop, stuffed it into my bag, and left the office. Maybe fresh air would rinse away the fatigue.

The city streets were quieter than usual. A chill nipped at me as I crossed toward the subway, my heels clicking on the pavement. You deserve more. Maya's words replayed in my head, and for one dangerous second, I let myself believe them.

That thought stuck with me-distracting enough that I didn't notice the sleek black car until the horn blared. The screech of tires cut through the night like a whip. My stomach dropped as brilliant headlights seared my vision. I stumbled back, my laptop bag tumbling to the pavement with a sharp thud.

The world seemed to slow: cold wind whipping past my face, the smell of burning rubber, the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears.

The tinted window rolled down, and a smooth, irritated voice cut through the night.

"Do you have a death wish?"

My eyes met piercing blue ones, and for a split second, I could only gape.

My stomach plummeted.

Adrian Harrington. The CEO. Billionaire. My boss's boss's boss. The man whose signature could shift markets and whose headlines filled gossip columns.

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered, my face flushing hot. "I wasn't paying attention."

His blue eyes flicked over me, assessing, cold. "Clearly."

Exhaustion and humiliation burned together, sparking something reckless. "Well, I survived, didn't I?" I muttered before I could stop myself.

The silence that followed was electric. Then, to my shock, Adrian's lips curved into a faint smirk.

"You've got some fire," he said, his voice softening just slightly. "Most people just grovel."

I blinked, unsure how to respond. I wasn't most people, but I wasn't about to admit that.

His hand tightened on the steering wheel. Nearly hitting someone was infuriating-but something about me must have made him pause. I hadn't cowered or whimpered. There was fire in my gaze, reckless but unyielding.

"Just... watch where you're going," he said finally, before the window slid shut and the car pulled away.

I stood frozen, heart thundering. Of all the people in New York to nearly kill me, it had to be Adrian Harrington. Shaking my head, I hurried into the subway. Maya was never going to believe this.

Later that night, I padded across the apartment floor, the tiles cold under my feet, the hum of the fridge filling the quiet room. The couch felt like a small sanctuary after the chaos outside. Even as I sank into it, I could still feel my pulse hammering, a reminder of how close I'd come to danger-and how alive the city felt in moments like this.

Maya was sprawled on the other end, scrolling her phone. "You look like you saw a ghost," she said.

"You're never going to believe who almost hit me with his car tonight," I blurted.

"Please don't say a taxi again."

"Adrian Harrington."

Maya sat up so fast her phone nearly flew. "Wait. Billionaire Adrian Harrington? Your Adrian Harrington?"

"He's not my anything." I groaned. "And yes. Him."

She burst into laughter. "Oh my God. Only you. Only you could turn a billionaire meet cute into a near-death experience."

"It wasn't a meet-cute!" I buried my face in a pillow.

"Sure," she teased. "Tell me again when he shows up with flowers."

I shot her a look, but she only grinned wider. "Careful, sis. You might've just stumbled into your own story."

I rolled my eyes, but a flicker of something dangerous lodged in my chest. The way Adrian had looked at me-sharp, calculating, as if I wasn't invisible after all.

And I hated myself for wondering, even for a second, if Maya was right.

Adrian Harrington had faced ruthless board members, billion-dollar acquisitions, and scandals that could have broken anyone weaker. But none of that unsettled him the way one reckless intern had.

He should have forgotten me the moment his car drove away. I was nobody. An inconvenience at best.

But instead, I lingered in his mind like a splinter he couldn't ignore.

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I sat in the gray, airless room of the New York State Department of Corrections, my knuckles white as the Warden delivered the news. "Parole denied." My father, Howard Sterling, had forged new evidence of financial crimes to keep me behind bars. He walked into the room, smelling of expensive cologne, and tossed a black folder onto the steel table. It was a marriage contract for Lucas Kensington, a billionaire currently lying in a vegetative state in the ICU. "Sign it. You walk out today." I laughed at the idea of being sold to a "corpse" until Howard slid a grainy photo toward me. It showed a toddler with a crescent-moon birthmark—the son Howard told me had died in an incubator five years ago. He smiled and told me the boy's safety depended entirely on my cooperation. I was thrust into the Kensington estate, where the family treated me like a "drowned rat." They dressed me in mothball-scented rags and mocked my status, unaware that I was monitoring their every move. I watched the cousin, Julian, openly waiting for Lucas to die to inherit the empire, while the doctors prepared to sign the death certificate. I didn't understand why my father would lie about my son’s death for years, or what kind of monsters would use a child as a bargaining chip. The injustice of it burned in my chest as I realized I was just a pawn in a game of old money and blood. As the monitors began to flatline and the family started to celebrate their inheritance, I locked the door and reached into the hem of my dress. I pulled out the sharpened silver wires I’d fashioned in the prison workshop. They thought they bought a submissive convict, but they actually invited "The Saint"—the world’s most dangerous underground surgeon—into their home. "Wake up, Lucas. You owe me a life." I wasn't there to be a bride; I was there to wake the dead and burn their empire to the ground.

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Pretend to Be Mine Pretend to Be Mine Avio Romance
“Elena Ramirez has spent years cleaning up other people's messes-balancing a demanding analyst job by day and side hustles at night to pay off a mountain of family debt. Love was never on her agenda. Then Adrian Harrington, the city's most feared billionaire, makes an offer she can't ignore: pose as his girlfriend to steady his company during a vicious boardroom power struggle. Six months. One contract. No feelings. It should be easy. But each public appearance, each staged kiss, pulls them closer than either planned. The arrangement ignites a firestorm-Adrian's jealous ex fakes a pregnancy, a hacker leaks private photos, a friend betrays them, and even his own family schemes against them. The gossip columns call her a gold digger; rivals call for Adrian's head. Somewhere between whispered confessions and desperate damage control, the line between pretend and real disappears. Now Adrian must choose between the empire he built and the woman he never meant to love, while Elena risks everything-career, reputation, and heart-for a man who was supposed to be temporary. Falling in Pretend delivers a high-stakes contemporary romance bursting with slow-burn chemistry, ruthless betrayals, and twists that will leave readers breathless.”
1

Chapter 1 When Worlds Collide

01/10/2025

2

Chapter 2 His Deal, My Downfall

01/10/2025

3

Chapter 3 The Lie We Agreed To

01/10/2025

4

Chapter 4 Strings Attached

01/10/2025

5

Chapter 5 A Night of Pretend

01/10/2025

6

Chapter 6 Headlines & Heartbeats

01/10/2025

7

Chapter 7 Proof of Fire

01/10/2025

8

Chapter 8 Cracks in the Spotlight

01/10/2025

9

Chapter 9 Fractures

01/10/2025

10

Chapter 10 Under the Lights

01/10/2025

11

Chapter 11 Headlines and Crossfire

17/10/2025

12

Chapter 12 Fire on the Roof

17/10/2025

13

Chapter 13 Lines I Refuse to Cross

20/10/2025

14

Chapter 14 A War Without Rules

21/10/2025

15

Chapter 15 Choices

21/10/2025

16

Chapter 16 Shattered Goodbyes

21/10/2025

17

Chapter 17 Running Isn't Enough

21/10/2025

18

Chapter 18 What We Choose to Protect

21/10/2025

19

Chapter 19 Shadows and Headlines

21/10/2025

20

Chapter 20 The Weight of Truth

21/10/2025

21

Chapter 21 The Night of Lies

21/10/2025

22

Chapter 22 The Cost of Dignity

21/10/2025