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.

I sat there on the edge of her bed while she cried herself to sleep on my chest like she was five again. Her fingers had twisted into my shirt so tightly I thought the fabric would tear.


And even after she stopped crying—Even after her breathing softened—I stayed.


I stayed because I was scared that if I left, she'd disappear into the night again.


Because clearly, I didn't know my own daughter anymore.


At seven a.m., I stood in the hallway staring at her door. Coffee in one hand, my phone in the other. I'd cancelled everything—calls, meetings, even the London investment team I was supposed to video-conference at nine. None of it mattered. Not when my kid was sneaking out to clubs, bruised, reeking of cigarettes and sweat and goddamn whisky.


When she came downstairs, hoodie drowning her frame, eyes red and sleepy, my heart clenched. She looked so small. So innocent.But she wasn't.


I put the mug down and gestured to the dining chair.


Ava sighed dramatically and shoved her phone across the table.


She slammed them down one by one like a petulant teenager—which, to be fair, she was. Barely.


I leaned forward, voice calm. "No. I'm protecting you."


She looked up. Her eyes shimmered. "Seb—"


"No," I cut her off. "Don't 'Seb' me now. You don't get to use that tone like everything's fine."


"I'm your father," I said, cold and sharp. "And for sixteen years, I've been your world. Your protector. Your shield. You do not get to lie to me. You do not get to risk your life like this."


"You want freedom? You earn it. You want trust? Don't break it. You want me to treat you like you're not a kid? Don't sneak out like one."


She whispered, "I didn't want you to hate me."


"I could never hate you, Ava. Not even when you break my heart."


And then she said the one thing that gutted me all over again.


Somewhere between ballet recitals and boardrooms, birthday cupcakes and business trips, I'd missed something.


I stood slowly. Walked over. Lifted her chin with two fingers.


"You don't need to feel alive in smoke-filled clubs," I said. "You're my girl. You've always been fire."


She broke again. Launched into me like a cannonball, arms around my waist, burying herself in my chest.


Chapter 8 - Rules Are Rules