Bound to the mafia

Ava James is barely surviving. She works long exhausting shifts at a luxury fashion store; and still struggles to keep up with the crushing hospital bills for her mother, who is slowly losing her battle with cancer. Love is the only thing keeping Ava together, or so she believes. For three years, Ava has devoted herself completely to Winston Laurent, the charming owner of the elegant Italian restaurant across the street from her workplace. With his soft hazel eyes and warm smiles, Winston seems like the perfect boyfriend. Ava dreams of a future with him, unaware that behind closed doors, Winston has been secretly sleeping with his manipulative brunette manager, Vanessa, a dangerously obsessive woman determined to keep him for herself at all costs. The only person who sees through Winston’s lies is Peter Hale, Ava’s longtime best friend. Peter has stood beside Ava since high school, quietly loving her from the shadows while watching her give her heart to the wrong man. Every time he tries to warn her, Ava dismisses him, believing Peter simply dislikes Winston. But Peter knows something Ava doesn’t: Winston’s betrayal is deeper and darker than cheating. Across the city, billionaire tech CEO Vindell Ashford faces a different crisis. Cold, calculating, and feared in the business world, Vindell has never cared about love or marriage. But when doctors reveal that his mother has less than a year left to live due to terminal heart disease, her final wish shakes him, she wants to see him married and give her grandchildren before she dies. Unable to deny his dying mother, Vindell agrees to find a wife. Not for love, but for a contract.