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SUDDEN FORMALITIES
Last Updated:
2025-03-10 03:16:28
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PRETEND PRINCESS LET ME DANCE TO LIFE
Yuki’s POVThe silence in my apartment was almost deafening.I stood in the middle of the living room, still in my towel, hair damp, staring at nothing in particular. My body was here, but my mind was far away.Something was missing.Not just something—everything.It wasn’t even about Creed. It was about me.My life had become an endless cycle of work, taking care of Grandpa, and occasionally squeezing in a bit of sleep. I was twenty-six. When had I become so boring?My eyes landed on the mirror across the room, and I walked up to it, dragging my fingers through my damp hair."When was the last time you actually did something for yourself, Yuki?" I whispered to my reflection.Silence.I sighed, letting my head drop back.Then, out of nowhere, a thought struck me.A completely random, impulsive thought.I needed to go out. Tonight.Something about the idea jolted me, like plugging in a dead phone and watching it flicker back to life.I grabbed my phone and dialed Lily. She picked up al
Last Updated : 2025-03-11PRETEND PRINCESS YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON'T
Yuki’s POVI already felt so lightheaded.I had no idea how much I had actually drunk or even what I had been drinking, but it made the dance floor even more exciting than it already was.My body moved in perfect rhythm with the music, my hips rolling fluidly as a guy pressed against me from behind. His hands hovered near my waist, hesitant but eager.I didn't care.Nothing mattered right now except the heat of the music, the blinding lights, and the electric pulse of the club.And then—"Miss Roman."The glittery haze I was in shattered.My breath caught, and my entire body stiffened.No. No, no, no.That voice—I could recognize it anywhere.Creed.The one person I wanted to avoid more than anyone else in the world.And I wasn’t even Yuyu Roman right now. I was Yuki. My real self. The self that was never meant to cross paths with him.I spun around in a panic, my heart hammering against my ribs. The flashing lights made it hard to see clearly, but then—I spotted him.Tall. Sharp. Com
Last Updated : 2025-03-11PRETEND PRINCESS I DON'T KNOW A YUYU
Yuki’s POV"This is bad, Yuki. Really bad."Lily clicked her tongue in disapproval as she dabbed antiseptic on the gash on my cheek. I hissed, jerking away, but she grabbed my chin and held me in place with a glare that could set fire to a wet log."Just help me, you nurse witch," I grumbled, flinching as she pressed a little too hard."Oh, I am helping you," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I’m helping you realize what a dumbass you are."I rolled my eyes."When you said you were going clubbing, I thought you meant having a good time, maybe a little harmless flirting, and getting your groove back. I didn’t think you’d come home at midnight looking like a goddamn crime scene.""Look, Lils, it hurts. Just patch me up and save the lecture for tomorrow, okay?" I whined, wincing as she pressed a cotton pad soaked in alcohol against the cut on my lip."Oh, it hurts?" she echoed mockingly. "Who would've thought getting punched in the face hurts?"I let out a long-suffering sigh. "You
Last Updated : 2025-03-12PRETEND PRINCESS BIG BRUISE
Yuki’s POVI buried myself under the blanket as the sharp knocking filled the entire house, blending with Suzu’s frantic barking. My heartbeat sped up. Whoever it was, they weren’t giving up easily.There was no way in hell I was answering that door.Lily had done a good job with whatever miracle ointment she’d slathered on me last night. The bruises barely looked half as bad anymore, though I still felt like a walking, talking wound. Some good rest and a steaming pot of soup should have me ready for work tomorrow."Will this cover all the bruises?" I had asked her last night."This is medicine, not Jesus, Yuki. Lower your expectations," she’d replied dryly, dabbing more onto my wounds.I hissed at the sting, but at least it was working. Mostly.Now, I pressed deeper into my blankets, listening. The knocking had stopped, but there were muffled voices.Lily?No, she wouldn’t knock. She had keys.Curiosity got the best of me. I pushed myself up, groaning as my body protested. Slowly, I
Last Updated : 2025-03-13PRETEND PRINCESS ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A FRUSTRATED BOY
Creed’s POVIt’s been four weeks—a full month since the whole Yuyu mix-up. Now it was December, which meant winter, which meant the company’s complementary vacation was next week, followed by the gala.Damn Madam Olive and her compulsory events."Everyone is going to run from your company if you work them like this," she had said years ago, massaging her temples like I was some kind of hopeless case. Then she threw in that ridiculous all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy nonsense.I remember scoffing. All work and no play makes Jack a rich boy.But it wasn’t up to me anymore. The team that won—the one from Yuyu’s department—chose a mountain resort. A snow-covered hellhole.This was going to be a long week.And it was only a few more months until I married Zara.That thought hit me like a chain snapping around my throat, cold and suffocating. The Creed Malcom from before wouldn’t have cared. I would’ve gone about business as usual. I hardly even entertained women anymore. In the e
Last Updated : 2025-03-13PRETEND PRINCESS LOVE IS AN IDIOT
Yuki's povI stared at the screen for a solid five seconds before I answered. "Oh, wow. Who is this? I don't recognize the number because, you know, you never fucking call me.""Don't get started," Eric said, voice smooth, a little frayed. "I'm calling you now, aren't I?""Yeah, after weeks of nothing, Mr. International Playboy.""Business trips, baby. You know how it is.""Do I? Do I really? Because last I knew, business trips didn't consist of you disappearing off the face of the fucking world."Eric huffed theatrically. "You're so heartless to me.""And you're so thoughtless."There was silence. I bit my lip, tightening fingers around my phone. Every time Eric would leave, he made me as if I were nothing. No calls, no messages. Like I was forgotten. And every time, I told myself I wouldn't care. That I was accustomed to it.But still, it stung.Eric broke the silence. "I'm gonna be in town next week."I blinked. "Next week? Like, after I get back from the resort?""Yeah."I exhaled
Last Updated : 2025-03-14PRETEND PRINCESS LOVE IS AN IDIOT
Yuki's povI stared at the screen for a solid five seconds before I answered. "Oh, wow. Who is this? I don't recognize the number because, you know, you never fucking call me.""Don't get started," Eric said, voice smooth, a little frayed. "I'm calling you now, aren't I?""Yeah, after weeks of nothing, Mr. International Playboy.""Business trips, baby. You know how it is.""Do I? Do I really? Because last I knew, business trips didn't consist of you disappearing off the face of the fucking world."Eric huffed theatrically. "You're so heartless to me.""And you're so thoughtless."There was silence. I bit my lip, tightening fingers around my phone. Every time Eric would leave, he made me as if I were nothing. No calls, no messages. Like I was forgotten. And every time, I told myself I wouldn't care. That I was accustomed to it.But still, it stung.Eric broke the silence. "I'm gonna be in town next week."I blinked. "Next week? Like, after I get back from the resort?""Yeah."I exhaled
Last Updated : 2025-03-15PRETEND PRINCESS WHY DID I HAVE TO WIN
Yuki's pov The group erupted into joyful screams."No fucking way!" Jason bellowed, his voice on the verge of cracking."This is insane!" another person screamed.Others began to pull out their phones and take photos and videos like they had just been informed they were getting on a flight to heaven. I just stood there. Stunned. Completely shocked.Creed has his own personal plane.I shouldn't be surprised. The man practically oozed wealth, but this was different. This wasn't just money. This was stupid rich people money.As the plane doors opened, about four flight attendants stepped out, dressed like they were auditioning for Best Etiquette: The Reality Show. Their uniforms were perfect—so neatly pressed, I was convinced not even a speck of lint dared to touch them. They walked in perfect unison, their smiles polished, their posture so straight it could rival a steel rod.“Welcome aboard the Creed 1011,” one of them said with a graceful bow. “We will be assisting you throughout the
Last Updated : 2025-03-15
Latest chapter
PRETEND PRINCESS ALL ALONE
Yuki's POVTwo weeks.That's 20,160 minutes. Twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes of pure torture.I'd texted Creed so much. Too much, really. Sorrys I couldn't phrase correctly first, things I didn't have the courage to tell him out loud before, little things I knew he didn't want to hear. I texted anyway, hoping for a crumb of a reply.But there was nothing. No dot. No word. No fucking breath.So I made up my mind. I'd made it up the day everything went wrong—the day everything went in the opposite direction of my plans, like some sick cosmic joke. I was leaving New York. Done. Finito. Finished.Lily hadn't called me for two weeks either. It was as if my world had burst wide open, and I stood in the middle of a great emptiness. Grandpa Roman… two weeks of nothing from him too. Two weeks of not hearing his shaking, bewildered voice, of not chasing after him when he got me mixed up with my mother. Two weeks alone, tearing myself apart, living on my own regrets.I was complet
PRETEND PRINCESS THIS ISN'T YOU
Creed's POVTwo weeks.Fourteen days.20,160 minutes.I knew because I counted them. Every goddamn one of them.It's ironic that you know exactly how you feel about someone after 20,160 minutes of silence. No calls. No texts. No presence. Nothing. Just a void where they used to be. The only sound was my own breathing and it had started to get under my skin. My house was worse than my head. Clothes scattered everywhere. Empty bottles. Shattered frames. A grime mountain I could barely bring myself to look at — and still, I hung around there, festering amidst it like some wounded beast.I hadn't left for the office in two weeks. Fourteen days. No one had tried calling anymore. No one knocked. Not since the third day when I ripped the doorbell off of the wall and hurled it out of the window. My stubble was heavy. I barely recognized the face staring back at me in the mirror the occasional time I made the mistake of looking.I flopped onto the bed, blankets that smelled like sweat and guil
PRETEND PRINCESS EVERYTHING HURTS
Yuki's POVI did not know what to do with this. With him. With this. miserable life. Grandpa Roman was bleeding — his hand was slashed open, red spreading onto the floor and Lily's voice disintegrating in horror as she ran left and right. Everything appeared to be unfolding too fast and too slow all at once. The glass, the blood, Suzu's frantic barking, the aching in my chest. My head was an absolute, overwhelming void."Yuki! Grab the first aid kit, now!" Lily screamed.My legs barely worked. I was stuck there, agape, like my brain couldn't wrap around it. Like I couldn't wrap my head around how fast everything disintegrated. One second he was just standing there, screaming at my mother, the next glass was shrouding everything, blood on his wrist, and the fragile reality I was pretending to hold together had broken completely."Yuki!"I jumped and ran for the kit.Lily was pressing a towel over his palm, speaking reassuringly to him but he wouldn't stop struggling, calling out for la
PRETEND PRINCESS REMIND HIM
Zara's POVI was furious. No — furious didn’t even begin to cover it. I was livid, seething, burning so hot I thought my skin might melt off my bones.After everything I did, after everything I exposed… Creed didn’t even react.I expected rage. I expected him to throw that lying, pathetic excuse of a human being out of the building. I expected him to grab me by the arm, pull me aside, demand to know how I found out, maybe even slap me, shake me, fire me, break something — anything.But nothing happened.He stood there, looking like a statue, his eyes void of any of the fire I’d always loved seeing in him. There was no anger, no betrayal, no disgust, not even pain. Just a flat, hollow emptiness.It made me sick.He should’ve done something.I stormed into my mother’s office, slamming the door so hard a frame rattled against the wall.“Mom,” I snapped, pacing the floor like a caged animal. “He didn’t even react.”My mother barely lifted her gaze from her tablet, calm as always. “What a
PRETEND PRINCESS END IT WITH TEARS
Yuki’s POVI felt heavy. So heavy.Like my whole chest had been filled with cement, and someone left me sinking at the bottom of some endless, dark ocean. I laid there, my back flat against my tiny mattress, staring up at the ceiling like it could explain why everything had gone so wrong. My mind was… nothing. A complete abyss. Blank.I couldn’t think.I couldn’t feel.I couldn’t even see properly — everything looked foggy, like my eyes had turned into glass.It felt like a dream.A dream I’d spent years carefully stacking, one fragile piece at a time, and today it just… cracked.Shattered.And in the fallout, I couldn’t even tell where my heart used to be.Why?Why did it have to go down like this?Why did I let it happen?I planned to run, to leave before anyone really got hurt.I never wanted to break anyone.Not him.But it hurt… it hurt so much because I saw it in his eyes — Creed, that mixture of confusion and betrayal and something way worse — like I wasn’t even human to him an
PRETEND PRINCESS YOU DON'T ALWAYS KNOW
Creed’s POVHow could I be so goddamn stupid?The question kept looping in my head like a song you hate but can’t stop hearing. It was there in the way my stomach twisted, the tightness in my jaw, the way my fists clenched at my sides like I could punch the thought away.YuYu Roman.What a fucking joke.Except it wasn’t a joke. It was my life. My embarrassment. My shame.He wasn’t a she.Not even close.And the worst part wasn’t the lying — it was how it made me feel. How kissing him felt good. Too good.Soft lips, warm breath, the way my heart had stumbled in my chest like it didn’t know better. Like it wasn’t supposed to feel disgusted. And when his hand had brushed against my cheek — so light, so tender — something inside me had cracked open, a small flicker of warmth I didn’t think existed anymore.And now?Now it felt like filth under my skin.A goddamn stain.I could still feel it.Still taste it.I wanted to throw up.How could you be so blind? How could you be so easy? So… des
PRETEND PRINCESS SEE YOU AGAIN
Lily's POVThe supermarket smelled of tomatoes, discount floor cleaner, and something sweet baking in the next aisle. I was supposed to be focusing — carrots, lettuce, and a little garlic for Grandpa Roman's soup — but my eyes kept drifting towards the ice cream aisle like a church sinner.I could almost feel the chill tub of chocolate fudge ripple in my hand. One. I could push it into the cart, under the pile of health food. No one would notice. No one had to know.But then my chest tightened.Grandpa.His face flashed before me — pale, confused, his eyes fogging over in those moments when he didn't even know my name. He was declining. The seven hours a day I could care for him between work, errands, and sleep were no longer enough. He needed constant care… and I was failing.I swallowed the guilt and picked up a bag of spinach when something sharp, something intimate hit my nose. A scent. New cologne, with something masculine and citrus notes. My airway stopped.It couldn't be.Not
PRETEND PRINCESS HURT LIKE HELL
Yuki's POVThe world shattered.Not figuratively. Not in some poetic, theoretical way. It shattered in hard, harsh, calculating pieces like a glass grenade primed to explode the moment I walked into that conference room.the screen kept flashing A video.My video.The one I made six years ago.Me.In a dirty little room, in front of a shattered mirror with my real voice.With my short hair.With my name.Yuki Roman.I felt my stomach cave in, my chest tightening like a vice. My heartbeat was loud — frantic, erratic, like it wanted to run out of my body without me.My secret — the one I’d carried like fine glass — was smashed wide open, spilled on the floor like blood.I couldn’t breathe.The silence in the room was a suffocating thing. Eyes. All of them. On me.Jacob’s grip on my elbow tightened. His glasses fogged up.Then a voice cut through.Creed.Cool. Commanding. Steady as steel.“Zara. You’ve done enough. Get out.”The whole room flinched.Even Zara stumbled, her confident mas
PRETEND PRINCESS EXPOSED
Creed's POVThe conference room gradually filled — a steady stream of confused, concerned, half-irked employees abandoning their workstations because of one woman's behavior. Zara's voice had echoed loudly through the intercom a few minutes prior, her voice crisp, authoritative, impossible to ignore:"Everyone, report to the conference room immediately. This concerns the integrity of the company and your future. Move."It was the kind of tone that would get your blood cold for a second — not because she was dominant, but because she sounded like she was going to burn the whole building down.I walked towards her, fighting through the growing crowd, my heart thudding against my flesh. Something made the air heavier, and tension wrapped around everyone's neck like a vine. And she was there — Zara, standing directly in front of the main presentation screen as if it belonged to her, her face pulled tight with that same self-satisfied smirk I remembered all too well."Zara," I stated my vo
