The billionaire's beautiful marionette

The billionaire's beautiful marionette

faewrites

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"Be my wife." Lucia looked at him, questioning his sanity. "You're out of your mind.I don't even know you ". Lucas Mariano's voice was icy, his gaze unreadable. "You need help.Your sister requires care.I can help you both.You have quite the image so I'm sure you'll need it. It's transactional-nothing more."He finished. Once the rising star in the ballet world, Lucia Moretti's life is shaken after a brutal divorce and a terrible fire that leaves her and her sister homeless. Now, with her dreams buried,her heart is guarded and her main focus is keeping both herself and her sister alive. Enter Lucas-Merciless, cold and sinfully compelling.He offers a contract marriage which comes with everything Lucia needs but at a cost she doesn't understand...yet. What started as a formality quickly grows into something far more twisted when her ex-husband,Matt-lucas's best friend-returns, determined to have her again. "You got married to Lucas?" Matt snarled,fury dripping from his voice. "Is this your revenge?" He continued icily. No, Lucia said without emotion. "This is survival." As sparks fly and secrets come to light, Lucia Finds herself torn between a past that nearly broke her and a man who might shatter her in a brand new way. In a world of socialites, betrayal and fake love, Lucia must ask herself: Is she the puppet or the one holding the strings?

Chapter 1 Forsaken grace

Lucia's pov

The smell of burnt coffee beans and crisp onions stuck to me like Regret as I scrubbed a sticky table top with the same desperation I used to polish my ballet slippers, only now there was zero music,no cheering or applause - just flickering lights about to die and the irritating voice of my wretched manager spitting out orders as usual.

"Table seven's been patient for long enough Lucia, move your ass!"

I didn't respond.I stopped responding quite a long time ago.words used to flow out of me like a symphony - smooth, unfiltered and captivating. Now they remained stuck somewhere behind clenched teeth and my forced smile.

I managed to balance two plates as I glided towards a table, my posture straight despite my sore joints.

A toddler screamed as she flung food across a table.My fingers twitched on instinct like I was about to perform a pirouette but I stopped myself.

That part of me was lost.

I chuckled bitterly as I mocked myself:

Lucia Moretti, you've fallen so far from a prodigy to a mere waitress in a faded uniform, pouring lukewarm coffee for strangers who can't even look you in the eye.

I brushed aside the thought as I spoke to the man at table seven."Can I get you anything else sir?" my voice devoid of emotion.

Yeah," the man at the table replied,his eyes never leaving his phone.

"get me someone who actually knows how to serve a proper meal because clearly you don't."

I ignored his comment as I took the plate, turned and walked back to the kitchen without saying a word.I also didn't flinch when the ceramic plate shattered in the sink though my coworker was startled.

"My God,Lucy...."

"I'll cover the damages;I murmured and kept my feet moving.

It wasn't the plate.it wasn't even the insult either.it was the unfortunate date. Six months. Six months since that fire. Six months since everything that had meaning in my life was taken from me in the blink of an orange-glowing haze.

"Well not everything. I thankfully still had Sophia,my sister", I corrected myself mentally.

By noon,my feet felt like burning coal and my spine groaned with every step.

My shift finally ended and I dashed out of there without saying goodbye,I didn't really care about anyone but Sophia right now.

I crumpled my tips tightly in my fists - barely enough for the house rent,let alone medicine for Sophia.

Outside, the rain drizzled from the grey sky as I walked on the cracked pavement to the bus stop, hugging my jacket tighter for warmth. A little girl twirled around in circles in the corner nearby,humming off-key and careless in her joy. I froze.

That used to be Me.

Every spin she took was like a punch to my stomach.I smiled bitterly as I watched her pretend the sidewalk was her stage and the rain, her spotlight.

I saw my fifteen year old self again as I remembered being full of dreams and dancing in the snow because practice couldn't wait.

My first costume was a silky tutu that I couldn't wait to wear and my mother used to cry with pride as she saw me, the smell of roses on her fingertips.

My pleasant memories were interrupted by my ex husband's voice as my mind took a wrong turn:"you're losing it Lucy. You can barely take care of yourself,let alone a demanding career like ballet. You're unstable."

My fists tightened.

He had stolen everything - My name, platform,ballet.And when I disappeared from the spotlight,the world believed the headlines:"Ballet's brightest star burns out in public meltdown."

I'd begged him to stop truthfully.But Matt Richards knew just how to control the media and in the end everyone went with his version of my fall.

My apartment was run down and it was on the ground floor with peeling paint and overall barely holding together but it was the best I could manage after the fire.

The one person I still cared about was inside so at least there was hope.

I pushed open the door,then she ran to me.

"Cece!"Sophia beamed as she ran towards me, wrapped in a worn blanket.The bandages on her limbs had been replaced, but her scars peeked through - raw and angry.

I ignored the pain in my chest at her condition as I dropped my bag and knelt beside her."Did you stay in your blanket all day?"

"Noo...,"she replied proudly as she held up a painting.It was blurry stick figures - one tall,one short- holding hands in front of a house surrounded by flames.

My breath caught in my throat.

"sophia...

"I saw them Cece..." she said in a whisper.

"There was a very loud sound.And they were....there.." she trailed off.

I grew stiff."You went through a terrible experience soso, I think it's very normal for you to hallucinate."

"No.I saw them...shadows."

I wanted to hug her, to dismiss it as fear and imagination.But there was a part of me that blamed myself.The fire was so sudden...maybe I left the heater on or something because it doesn't make sense.

And even now, the official cause was left as"unknown electrical failure".

"You're ok now," I whispered, hugging Sophia tighter."Nothing is going to hurt you again."

I stayed awake to watch her sleep after dinner, listening to her steady breathing as I stared at the ceiling.My mind replayed the flames,the smoke, Sophia's screams,the door that wouldn't open....

Until Sophia's muffled whimper snapped me out of my thoughts. I hurried to her room and found her struggling under the covers,sweat covering her forehead.

"Stop,Stop! Don't come in!" Sophia cried in her sleep."The woman! She's in the fire!"

I shook her awake firmly." It's okay. It's okay soso."

Sophia looked up at me with wide terrified eyes that made my heart bleed."Was it just a dream Cece? or something else?"

I didn't know how to answer.

My throat tightened.

I cuddled with her in bed for a long time.

Later,she managed to sleep but I didn't.

I couldn't.

I have to do whatever it takes to help my sister.

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Chapters
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The billionaire's beautiful marionette
1

Chapter 1 Forsaken grace

16/01/2026

2

Chapter 2 The forsaken

16/01/2026

3

Chapter 3 Ice and ashes

16/01/2026

4

Chapter 4 Ghosts and grace

16/01/2026

5

Chapter 5 Silent echoes of grace

16/01/2026

6

Chapter 6 The savior

16/01/2026

7

Chapter 7 The price of desperation

16/01/2026

8

Chapter 8 Rock bottom

16/01/2026

9

Chapter 9 The call

16/01/2026

10

Chapter 10 Bound by breath

16/01/2026

11

Chapter 11 Glimmer of hope

16/01/2026

12

Chapter 12 Papers and promises

16/01/2026

13

Chapter 13 Saved by the billionaire

16/01/2026

14

Chapter 14 Settling in

16/01/2026

15

Chapter 15 Behind shut doors

16/01/2026

16

Chapter 16 Castles in the sky

16/01/2026

17

Chapter 17 Precious memories

16/01/2026

18

Chapter 18 A brighter ray of hope

16/01/2026

19

Chapter 19 The bunny

16/01/2026

20

Chapter 20 Joyful news

18/01/2026

21

Chapter 21 Homecoming preparation

18/01/2026

22

Chapter 22 Together at last

19/01/2026

23

Chapter 23 Tender bonds

19/01/2026

24

Chapter 24 Cracks in the contract

20/01/2026

25

Chapter 25 Silent walls

20/01/2026

26

Chapter 26 Fractured distance

21/01/2026

27

Chapter 27 The best illusion

21/01/2026

28

Chapter 28 Perfect distance

22/01/2026

29

Chapter 29 Throne of glass

22/01/2026

30

Chapter 30 Reflections

24/01/2026

31

Chapter 31 Bustling world

24/01/2026

32

Chapter 32 Control freak

26/01/2026

33

Chapter 33 The mask of longing

26/01/2026

34

Chapter 34 Dinner invitations

27/01/2026

35

Chapter 35 Richards tower

29/01/2026

36

Chapter 36 Fury unleashed

29/01/2026

37

Chapter 37 The biggest mistake

02/02/2026

38

Chapter 38 Gestures

02/02/2026

39

Chapter 39 Roses and tulips

04/02/2026

40

Chapter 40 Thawing the ice

04/02/2026