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.

She looked just like me.No — worse. She looked like everything I could've been if I'd stayed. If I'd fought harder. If I hadn't been weak.


Ava Chen. Sixteen. With Sebastian's eyes and my jawline. But prettier. Softer. Louder. Clingier.


She strutted down those school halls like she owned the damn world — hoodie up, smirk locked in, swinging that long, black hair like it was some kind of crown. Like being his daughter made her untouchable.


I loved Sebastian before she ever existed. I knew his laugh, his pain, his fear of failure. I saw him when he was sixteen and stupid and angry at the world. I loved him when no one else dared to.


I watched them last week — at the park, like some picture-perfect postcard. She threw popcorn at him and he actually laughed. Not the cold, polite laugh he used to give me when I made a joke. A real laugh. And when she clung to his arm, kissed his cheek, whispered God knows what in his ear, he didn't even flinch.


She talks too much. She's messy. Overbearing. Emotional. And he adores her.


But he lets her crawl into his lap like she's five. He lets her sleep in his bed when she's tired. He lets her touch his face, brush his hair, call him every sweet name under the sun—and he melts for her like wax.


Doesn't see how she lies to him. How she used to sneak out every night. How she swears like a sailor, drinks like a soldier, and has boys wrapped around her finger like a ring pop. He doesn't see that she's wild.


Just like I was.Just like I was when he stopped loving me.


I tried to warn him. Tried to tell him she was no angel. That she was becoming me — the very version of me he walked away from. But he looked at me like I was insane. Like I was threatening his little princess.


I wasn't threatening her.I was reminding him of the truth.


But he's so blind now. So wrapped around her finger that I could scream it in his face and he'd still go kiss her forehead, tuck her in, and call her "my baby."


That girl stole everything from me the moment she took her first breath.


And I swear—if I can't have Sebastian…Then neither can she.


Chapter 12 - That Girl Stole Everything