Contractually Yours, Brother

Alice Vance doesn’t do handouts, and she certainly doesn’t do billionaires. A fiercely independent art curator struggling to open her own gallery, she lives by a simple rule: rely on no one. But when a mechanical error traps her in the private penthouse of Manhattan’s most ruthless tycoon, her carefully ordered life shatters in an instant. Sylvester Arlington, the formidable CEO of Arlington Global, doesn't believe in romance. Burned by his mother’s ruthless betrayal as a child, he views every human relationship as a transaction. Facing an emergency ultimatum from his late grandfather’s will—marry within three days or forfeit his multi-billion-dollar empire to a hostile board—Sylvester sees Alice not as a woman, but as the perfect solution. She has no corporate ties, no leverage, and no place in his world. The deal is straightforward: a one-year fake marriage, a five-million-dollar buyout to fund her gallery, and zero personal involvement. To protect her heart, Alice signs under one non-negotiable condition added in her own hand: You never touch me. Forced into a world of high-society galas, ruthless corporate warfare, and intense domestic proximity, their cold arrangement quickly turns volatile. Beneath Sylvester’s icy control lies a possessive, fiercely protective man who makes Alice’s pulse race—and behind Alice’s fiery sarcasm is a vulnerability that slowly cracks Sylvester’s formidable defenses. When high-stakes corporate sabotage threatens Arlington Global, a surprise medical diagnosis flips the dynamic entirely: Alice is carrying Sylvester's high-risk triplets. Suddenly, the fake marriage becomes a deadly serious battleground. As an obsessed rival stops at nothing to destroy Sylvester’s empire—including targeting Alice—Sylvester must confront the one truth his fortune can't buy: The ultimate empire isn't built in a boardroom, and the only term that matters is total surrender.