Novels by Chioma Anthony

Ace’s POVI lay on my bed, head aching like crazy. I had buried myself in work all day after hearing the details of the marriage contract. I almost believed she wouldn’t come, that she would fight it, but she appeared at my door looking lovely as ever. She didn’t look all too happy to be here but I believe she’s settled now. I don’t know if her father told her about the agreement but I will find out tomorrow. I picked up my laptop from the side desk and turned it on. Emails flooded in immediately, most from Stella wanting to know why I wasn’t responding to her messages and why I'd decided to work from home, and others from my contractors and business partners.I ignored them and opened the email the private investigator sent to me. It contained information about Mila and how she’d lived. If she was going to be my wife, I needed to know she could handle the duties that came with it.Her father had done a good job of hiding her from the media. I couldn’t find anything on her on my own

Mila’s POVI stood in front of Ace’s door with three big suitcases and a headache that wouldn’t go away. This situation was stressing me out.I thought about taking an Uber and going straight to the airport to run to another country but I couldn’t. My father would find me no matter where I ran to.I had pleaded with him multiple times since the dinner to change his mind about the move but he wouldn’t listen. As much as I’d love to run away from this, this is my life now. I rang the doorbell and stepped back, wondering why he chose the farthest mansion in the estate to live in. The house was really huge, with tall gates and cold stone walls. Everything about it screamed strict and controlling.Ace was dressed in a white Tshirt and grey sweatpants when the door opened. Classic. The white shirt hugged his upper body in a very flattering manner and his hair looked damp and slightly messy, like he just showered. For a moment, we just stared at each other. “So,” I said bluntly. “I’m here

Mila’s POVI woke up with a headache and a stranger’s smell on my skin.The first thing I felt was regret, heavy, sharp, and unforgiving.My head throbbed, my mouth tasted wrong, my body felt warm in places I didn’t want to think about.I opened my eyes, and the bed was empty. Then panic hit fast. Too fast. My heart started racing before my mind could catch up.I sat up. The sheet slipped down my shoulders. My skin felt uncovered. Marked. Not hurt. Just aware. I pressed my palm to my chest.Breathe, just breathe. I searched the bed, the room, the silence. He was gone. Of course he was. A laugh left me. Dry. Almost broken. “Coward,” I whispered, though I wasn’t sure who I was angry at. I tried to remember his face but I couldn’t. I squeezed my eyes shut trying harder but all I could remember was feeling a bump below his chin. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. The floor felt cold, real, too true. That’s when the fear crept in.My father.If he found out about thi

Ace’s POVI woke up with a very bad headache.I felt a sharp and heavy pain, right behind my eyes as I tried to open them and then I felt warmth beside me which made me open my eyes slowly.White ceiling, soft light, and a faint smell of lavender. This is definitely not my room.I turned my head and saw her lying next to me. I froze, holding my breath without meaning to.Her brown hair spread across the pillow, dark and smooth, her long lashes rested on her cheeks, and her lips were slightly parted, soft and pink. For someone who had spent all night drinking and dancing, she looked way too calm.I didn’t know her name but I remembered her. The club, the noise, the anger in her eyes, and the way she laughed like she didn’t care about anything else in the world but herself.She was beautiful in a quiet way, not loud or trying, just real. My head throbbed harder, making me close my eyes for a moment, and just like that, the memories came rushing in.*Flashback*I was standing in his of

Mila’s POVI didn’t plan anything after I left the house. I just wanted the night to swallow me whole and what better place to clear my head than New York’s most famous nightclub— Black Box. The line outside the club was long but my money got me inside so fast I barely noticed when they let me in. The doors closed behind me, and the world turned into noise.The club was loud, the bass pounding so hard it shook me to my core. The lights flashed red, blue, and purple, wiping my mind clean.My phone buzzed but I didn’t look at it. I knew who it was. I knew what he would say. Calm words. Sharp threats. Promises that sounded like threats. I didn’t need any of that. I wanted noise, I wanted to forget the way my father just signed away my life for more power, like my life never belonged to me.My phone buzzed again, this time more aggressively than the last.I groaned. “Of course.”“Mila,” Anaya shouted the moment the call connected.“Where the hell are you?”“Out,” I said.“Out where?” Sh

Mila’s POVWhen my dad smiled at me, I knew something wasn't right.My dad never just smiled for no reason. He smiled when deals were done. When the numbers went up, he smiled. When something valuable changed hands, he smiled.That something was me tonight.People thought I was going to laugh, but I stood in the middle of the room with a glass in my hand and laughed anyway. Nodding along as they talked. When they praised me, I smiled. The dress I wore was one my dad picked out. I stood where he told me to stand. I played the role I had learned since my youth.The perfect kid. The obedient kid. The useful kid.It was my birthday. Twenty-five. Everyone said it like it meant freedom, like it meant growth, like it meant choice but it didn’t.I felt empty. Not sad. Not angry yet. Just hollow. Like something important had already been taken from me and I hadn’t noticed when.My father raised his glass.The sound of it hitting against the crystal cut through the noise. Conversations stopped.