Pretty Lies in the City:

In the shimmering glass mansion towering over New York City, sixteen-year-old Ava Chen lives a life split in two. To her father, Sebastian, she's the perfect daughter—sweet, clingy, always fussing over him with “Did you eat?” and “Are you okay?” She’s his sunshine, his everything. What he doesn’t know is that once she steps out of the house, Ava becomes someone else entirely: a wild-hearted rebel who races bikes, hops clubs, and leaves boys in the dust.

Sebastian Chen isn’t your typical father. He’s only thirty-two, but looks twenty-five—tall, terrifyingly handsome, and possessive beyond reason. He raised Ava alone after her mother, Rain, disappeared right after giving birth. To the world, they look more like lovers than father and daughter, drawing stares and whispers wherever they go.

But their dangerous peace is shattered when Rain returns.

She's been watching. She knows Ava’s secrets. And she’s here to rip them apart.

Rain claims Ava stole Sebastian from her the moment she was born. That Ava is a liar, a manipulator, and that Sebastian was never meant to be a father. As cracks form in their perfect world, Sebastian must face the terrifying truth: What if the daughter he loves more than anything… is hiding darker lies than he ever imagined?

"Pretty Lies in the City" is a dark, twisted, and heart-wrenchingly emotional manga-style novel about obsession, secrets, and the kind of love that defies every rule.

The moment I stepped through the door, I knew.


The air inside the glass mansion was different—quieter, heavier. My heels clicked too loud against the marble floor. My throat was dry.


Leaning against the kitchen island, arms crossed, face unreadable. Dressed in all black. Dark hair slightly tousled. The sleeves of his shirt rolled up, veins visible on his forearms.


I started walking toward him—slow at first, then faster, and then I crashed into him like I always did. My arms wrapped tight around his waist. I buried my face in his chest.


"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I know you heard."


Then—slowly—his arms came around me. One hand gripped the back of my head like he thought I might vanish. The other curled around my spine. He exhaled, long and heavy.


"You scare the shit out of me sometimes," he murmured into my hair.


My knees buckled and I melted against him, fists clinging to his shirt like I did when I was five. "I wasn't gonna let her hurt you. I don't care if she's my mom—I don't want her near you."


"I've stopped, Seb. The clubs, the boys, everything. I'm not lying anymore. I just—I didn't want you to hate me."


He pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes.


That terrifying man—the one who made grown men shake—looked at me like I was the most fragile thing he'd ever held.


"I could never hate you," he said. "I love you too fucking much."


A tear slipped out. I wiped it away like it didn't matter. "I'm still yours, y'know?"


And then he picked me up, like he used to when I was little, like I wasn't sixteen and five-foot-seven and complicated and messy. He sat me on the counter like a kid, poured me juice, kissed my forehead, and just stayed.


Chapter 16 - I’m Still Yours