LOGINOne reckless night shattered her future. Now, it’s about to become her destiny. After catching her fiancé cheating hours before their engagement party, Aria Cole drowns her heartbreak in alcohol and ends up in the arms of a devastatingly handsome stranger. No names. No promises. Just one unforgettable night of passion. Until two pink lines change everything. When Dominic Ashford—the cold, ruthless billionaire CEO and her ex’s boss—discovers Aria is carrying his child, he refuses to let her walk away. Especially not after she nearly terminates the pregnancy he’s always craved. He offers her a contract: one year as his wife in exchange for protection from her toxic ex and the scandal threatening to destroy her. But their dangerous arrangement awakens something far more lethal than desire. As buried secrets surface—betrayal, hidden identities, and a decades-old massacre tied to Dominic’s powerful family—passion turns into obsession. The man she’s falling for may be her greatest enemy… or her only salvation. In a world of revenge, lies, and toxic love, how far will a ruthless billionaire go to claim the woman carrying his heir?
View MoreARIA'S POVClaire left not long after, taking the empty food containers with her and threatening, only half-joking, to check in on me again tomorrow if I didn't reply to her texts.I'd barely settled back into the last of my paperwork when Tyler knocked, tablet in hand, that particular expression on his face that usually meant something I wasn't going to like."What now," I said, setting my pen down."Ryan," he said simply. "Security spotted him near the coffee shop across the street a while ago. He hasn't approached the building, hasn't done anything actionable enough to remove him. But he's still out there."I exhaled slowly, pressing my fingers against my temples. "He knows he's blocked. He knows security's under strict orders not to let him near the entrance.""He does. Which is probably why he's just... waiting instead.""For what?""I don't know." Tyler hesitated. "Do you want an escort when you leave tonight?"I considered it, exhaustion and irritation tangling together. "No. I
DOMINIC'S POVThe taste of her was still on my mouth when I left her office, and I hated how deliberately I had to work to stop thinking about it.I'd meant the kiss as strategy. Somewhere between her jaw in my hand and the sound of her breath catching, it had stopped being that. She'd gone quiet afterward, the kind of quiet I recognized too well from years of reading rooms for a living. Not desire. Retreat.I'd overstepped. Whatever this marriage actually was, I'd promised her distance, and I'd broken that promise in front of a boardroom full of investors who now had exactly the photos they needed.Fine. The photos had worked. That would have to be enough."The leak," I said to Jorah once we were in the car. "I want it found today, not eventually.""I've been cross-referencing staff schedules against the timing of the article," he said, pulling up a file on the tablet between us. "Whoever fed that reporter details about the separate wings had to be inside the house sometime yesterday
ARIA'S POVAfter a lot of calls, I was able to bring down the post, privately investigating the company that published it.I went back to my work as if nothing had happened. After several hours of cross-checking Dominic's work, I was satisfied and decided to take a break when the door opened without a knock.Dominic.He shut the door behind him gently, his eyes finding mine. He walked across the room in a few strides, his phone in his hands and his jaw set in a way that told me he must have seen the news."You came," I said, though it came out more surprised than I intended."Of course I came." He set his phone down on my desk, the article still glowing on the screen. "This isn't just embarrassing. It's dangerous. If the board believes this marriage is a farce, every ounce of stability we bought Thursday disappears overnight.""I know that.""The investors who came back," he continued, pacing slightly now, restless energy radiating off him in a way I hadn't seen since the hospital hal
ARIA'S POVThe car ride to the clinic was quiet, the same careful, practiced silence that had become the default language between us over the past week.I stared out the window, watching the city blur past, and reminded myself for the hundredth time that this was fine. This was the arrangement. Distance wasn't cruelty, it was simply the shape of what we'd agreed to. While acting even more lovey dovey in the house.I really wanted to move back to my place but Granny insisted I stay for a week. I really enjoyed my stay, but I can't deny I missed the office even more. Dominic was forced to take charge briefly till I was “permitted” to go out.The pregnancy is seven weeks already. The thought still felt strange every time I let myself sit with it — a whole person, small and stubborn, growing steadily inside me despite everything trying to derail it. Ryan. The headlines. The collapse in the lobby. Whatever fear had gripped me that morning in the car with Dominic, whispering something's wron
DOMINIC’S POVShe broke the kiss almost immediately—brief and teasing. The taste of her lingered on my tongue, sour like the whiskey she'd both been drinking. I wanted to pull her back in, to finish the fire she started, but that mischievous smile stopped me cold. She knew exactly what she was doi
DOMINIC'S POV“The VIP section you reserved is currently occupied, and there is no vacant section,” the hostess walking behind me hurriedly explains.I know I came out of the blue, without my usual reservation. But I didn't prepare for no room at all.I kept walking, remnants of annoyance starting
ARIA’S POVSilence swallowed the entire hall. For a heartbeat, no one moved. Not even Ryan.The words hung in the air like a guillotine.Then just like that, the words traveled through the room twice before they could register in people’s brains. Whispers erupted—first confusion, then shock, then
ARIA’S POV I can't find him anywhere. I've searched the entire mansion, through the grand halls, the glittering ballroom, even the gardens where fairy lights twinkled like false promises.Now I'm heading to the third floor, my heels sinking into the thick carpets that line these quieter corridors






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