THE BILLIONAIRE'S TEMPORARY WIFE
Elena Moore never imagined that the worst night of her life would lead her straight into the arms of a billionaire.
After discovering her boyfriend's betrayal and learning that her family is about to lose everything, Elena receives an unexpected offer from Adrian Blackwood—the cold, ruthless CEO everyone fears.
Six months.
A marriage contract.
No love.
Adrian promises to save her family from financial ruin if Elena agrees to become his temporary wife. Desperate and with nowhere else to turn, she accepts.
But living under the same roof changes everything.
The man who was supposed to remain distant becomes fiercely protective. Their arguments turn into undeniable chemistry, stolen glances become dangerous attraction, and the rules they promised to follow begin to disappear.
Just when Elena finally realizes she is falling for her husband, Adrian's former fiancée returns, determined to destroy their marriage.
Then Elena discovers the contract was never as simple as Adrian claimed.
He didn't choose her by accident.
He had been searching for her long before they met.
Now Elena must decide whether to walk away before her heart is destroyed—or risk everything for the man who was never supposed to love her.
Because their temporary marriage was only supposed to last six months.
Their love may have to last forever.
Read
Chapter: CHAPTER 52 THE NAME BEHIND THE INITIALS By late afternoon, the name Jonathan Vale had become the centre of everything on Adrian's desk. Daniel had spread copies of the transfer record beside old company correspondence, while I sat near the window, trying to understand why a man who had supposedly been helping us protect four children had left behind so many unanswered questions. The witness signature was genuine, according to the preliminary examination. The red notation was a different matter. Its author remained unidentified, and the initials R.B. could not be reliably connected to Richard Blackwood. We had made progress, but not enough to accuse anyone without risking another mistake. Daniel closed one of the folders. “There's something bothering me about the transfer.” “Only one thing?” I asked. He gave me a tired smile. “The document says the guardian requested restricted follow-up. That means the request should have been recorded somewhere. Even if the guardian's name was kept confidential, there should be a corr
Last Updated: 2026-10-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 51 THE SIGNATURE IN THE ENVELOPEBy the time we arrived at Blackwood International the following morning, I had rehearsed at least a dozen ways the meeting could go wrong. Richard might have removed the envelope. The witness signature might be unreadable. The document might reveal nothing useful at all. After everything we had uncovered, I was beginning to understand that the truth rarely arrived in the form I expected.Adrian noticed my silence as we crossed the lobby.“You've been staring at the same spot on the floor for three minutes,” he said.“I'm preparing myself.”“For what?”“For the possibility that your uncle has destroyed the only document that could tell us what happened to Anna.”Adrian stopped beside the elevator and turned toward me. “If he has, we'll investigate why. If he hasn't, we'll examine the evidence. Either way, we don't walk in there assuming we already know what he did.”“You make it sound simple.”“It isn't.” His expression softened. “But I learned something from you. I don't have to solve
Last Updated: 2026-10-25
Chapter: CHAPTER 50- THE WITNESS SIGNATURE I barely slept that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the four transfer numbers on Daniel's laptop. Three children had documented arrivals, while the fourth had been received under an alternate identity. Someone had deliberately erased a name and voided the original transfer, but they had left enough evidence behind to suggest that the missing child had not simply disappeared. Anna might still be alive. The thought frightened me because hope could be cruel when it rested on incomplete evidence. I had spent weeks discovering that the people I trusted knew pieces of my history I had never been allowed to see. I could not bear the possibility of finding Anna only to learn that someone had used her name to lure us into another trap. Beside me, Adrian shifted beneath the covers. “You're awake,” he murmured. “So are you.” “I was trying to convince myself you were asleep.” I turned toward him. The faint light coming through the curtains outlined his face, softening the stern
Last Updated: 2026-10-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 49- THE CHILD WHO NEVER ARRIVED The message from the unknown number followed me all the way back to the Blackwood estate. I kept reading it, hoping the words would change into something less troubling. They didn't. Ask Thomas what happened to the children after they were separated. Ask him why one child was never recorded as arriving anywhere. Whoever had sent it knew about the protection agreement, the missing fourth child, and the secret transfer records. More importantly, they knew enough to understand that Anna's disappearance was only one part of what had happened twelve years ago. Adrian sat beside me in the back seat, watching the road pass outside the window. He had been unusually quiet since we left Hawthorn House. I knew that silence. It was the same one he wore whenever a memory slipped close enough for him to feel it but remained too distant for him to grasp. “Are you thinking about the man who wore the ring?” I asked. “Partly.” He turned toward me. “I'm thinking about the children. We were separate
Last Updated: 2026-10-21
Chapter: CHAPTER 48- THE HOUSE THAT REMEMBERED The photograph remained on the table long after Daniel stopped examining it. The little girl in the picture stood between Adrian and me, her silver charm resting against a pale dress. She looked about our age, perhaps a year younger, and there was something unsettling about the way she faced the camera. The other children were smiling, but Anna’s expression was serious, as if she had already learned that adults could make promises they never intended to keep. “Anna remembered you before you forgot,” I repeated, reading the message on my phone. “What is that supposed to mean? I was a child. I barely remember anything from that period.” “Maybe she remembers the day you met,” Adrian said. He stood beside me, his hands resting on the back of my chair. “Or perhaps the person who sent this wants us to believe she remembers you. We have to separate what we know from what someone wants us to think.” I turned to look at him. There had been a time when I would have accepted his confidence a
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 47- THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME I barely slept that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the photograph of four children standing outside Vale House. I saw the little girl hiding behind the adult's coat, her silver charm resting against her wrist, and I imagined her waiting for someone who had promised to return. Anna Vale. Her name had appeared in an incomplete foundation record, followed by three words that refused to leave my mind: Transfer not confirmed. For twelve years, I had believed my childhood was a collection of ordinary memories interrupted by a tragedy I couldn't fully explain. Now I understood that someone had made decisions about my life before I was old enough to question them. I had been moved from one place to another, separated from people who knew my history, and given explanations that fell apart whenever I looked too closely. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a little girl had disappeared. When I entered the study the following morning, Adrian was already there, speaking with D
Last Updated: 2026-10-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 80: COMING HOME AND FOREVERFinal chapter Car seat. Car seat. Two of them. Damian kept checking the straps. "Too tight?" "Too loose?" "Are they okay?" "They're fine," I said. Exhausted. Smiling. Hospital doors opened. Sunlight. Real air. We drove home slow. To the library. To the apartment above it. --- It was chaos. Instantly. 2AM: Book cried. 2:15: Page cried. 2:30: Both cried. Damian paced. Bottle in one hand. Baby in the other. "Shh," he said. "It's okay." The apartment was small. Two cribs in the nursery. Bassinet in our room. Diapers on the counter. Books everywhere. Library noise downstairs. Kids during the day. Construction still happening next door. "I can't do this," Damian said on night 3. Eyes red. Hair a mess. "Yes you can," I said. "Watch," he said. He changed a diaper. Got peed on. Laughed. "Okay," he said. "I can." --- Day 4. Knock on the door. Mara. With lasagna. "Meal train," she said. "Sign up sheet is full." Day 5. Lila. With coffee. "I
Last Updated: 2026-10-06
Chapter: CHAPTER 79:THE VISITOR Room was quiet. Too quiet. Book and Page slept. In the clear boxes. Tiny. Perfect. Damian stood by the door. Arms crossed. "Why are you here," he said. Sophia. In the doorway. Heels. Coat. Eyes red. "I saw it on the news," she said. "Twins." "I just wanted to see." "See what," Damian asked. "Me," I said from the bed. "Us," Damian said. Sophia looked at me. Looked at the babies. "Can I," she asked. "Come in?" Damian didn't move. "5 minutes," he said. "That's it." She came in. Stood far from the bed. Like she was afraid to get close. "They're beautiful," she whispered. "Book and Page," she said. "That's... perfect." "Yeah," Damian said. "It is." Silence. Monitors beeping. "You ruined him," Sophia said. Soft. To me. "That first year. You took everything." I didn't answer. Damian did. "He saved himself," he said. "And I helped." Sophia laughed. Bitter. "We were going to have this," she said. "The houses. The board meetings. The name." D
Last Updated: 2026-10-06
Chapter: CHAPTER 78:NESTING 3 months to go. The spare room smelled like paint. Yellow. Soft yellow. "Sunshine," Eleanor called it. "For two babies," she said. I was on a stool. Belly huge. Painting the trim. Slow. Damian was on the floor. Sandpaper in hand. "These were donated," he said. "From the old library desks." "Wood's good," he said. "Solid." He was building cribs. By hand. Two of them. Side by side. Eleanor was cooking downstairs. Something that smelled like home. "You're both terrible at cooking," she'd said on day 1. "So I fixed it." --- Week 34. Contractions. At 2AM. Damian shot up. "Is it time," he asked. "I don't know," I said. "Pain?" "Yeah." ER. Monitors. Waiting. Doctor checked me. "Braxton Hicks," she said. "False labor." "Go home. Rest." Damian drove us back. Silent. Hands shaking on the wheel. "I'm sorry," I said. "For what," he asked. "For scaring you." "Don't," he said. "I'd rather 100 false ala
Last Updated: 2026-10-05
Chapter: CHAPTER 77:TWINS 3AM. Library. Dark. Footsteps. Back and forth. Back and forth. Damian. Pacing. Again. "You're going to wear a hole," I said from the doorway. He stopped. Ran a hand through his hair. "Can't sleep," he said. "Because," I asked. "Because there's two," he said. He sat on the floor. Among the stacks. Head in his hands. "$500,000," he said. "That's for the wing. For computers. For books. Not for diapers." I sat next to him. "One thing at a time," I said. "How," he asked. "Cribs. Clothes. Formula." "Community," I said. "What," he said. "Community," I said. --- Saturday. We opened the library like normal. But there were tables. Outside. Balloons. PINK AND BLUE WELCOME BABY COLES "What is this," Damian asked. Mara grinned. "Baby shower," she said. "For you." I cried. Before anyone even came in. By noon, 300 people. Maybe more. Spilled into the street. Diapers. Boxes of them. Onesies. Bott
Last Updated: 2026-10-04
Chapter: CHAPTER 76:THE YEAR IN BETWEEN 1 year later. The library was loud. And that was good. Kids in the reading corner. Lila running the teen desk. Mara at checkout. Construction noise from the back. Drilling. Hammering. And Damian? Everywhere. --- 6AM: Consultant calls. 8AM: Grant paperwork. 12PM: Meeting with contractors. 5PM: Shelving books. 11PM: Still answering emails. He was losing weight. Dark circles. "I'm fine," he said. "You’re not," I said. "I have to do this," he said. "For the wing. For the grant. For everyone." I watched him. This was the old Damian. Trying to save the world alone. "Let me carry this too," I said one night. "We'll burn out," I said. "We already are," he said. --- Eleanor was here 3 days a week now. Helping. Cooking. "You're both terrible at cooking," she said. "And at sleeping," she added. She didn't ask about the check. Didn't mention it. Just showed up. With groceries. And quiet. --- Month 10 of constr
Last Updated: 2026-10-03
Chapter: CHAPTER 75: THE PLAN Day 1 of 30. The kitchen table was covered. Papers. Laptops. Coffee. Ramen. "$500,000," Damian said. "For expansion. New wing. Kids' section. Computers." I was typing. "Mission statement," I said. "Cole Library serves everyone. No matter what." He nodded. Wrote it down. --- Day 7. We needed letters. Letters of support. Mara started. Then Lila's teacher. Then Lila's whole class. Then the mayor. Then Westside Youth Center. Then 200 people from the landmark ceremony. By Day 20, we had 1000. In a box. "For the Cole Library," they all said. Damian read them at night. Aloud. "This library saved my son." "This is the only place I feel safe." "This is OUR library." He'd stop. Clear his throat. "Okay," he'd say. "Next one." --- Day 29. Submitted. Online. Click. $500,000 request. 30 pages. 1000 letters attached. Damian closed the laptop. "Now we wait," he said. "How long," I asked. "2 weeks," h
Last Updated: 2026-10-02
LOGIN
