PROLOGUE

♥♥♥

“Let’s get a divorce,” Layla said flatly, sliding the papers across the table without a hint of remorse.

Lucian’s jaw tightened. “Why did you hide it from me?!” he roared, his eyes burning with fury, and something she couldn’t name. The sudden emotion in his voice caught her off guard.

“What are you talking about?” she scoffed, though her pulse raced.

“You’ve been hiding my daughter from me,” he spat, voice cracking with pain. “My daughter, Layla! And we’ve been living under the same roof all this time!”

Layla froze. So he’d finally found out.

“Your daughter?” she echoed with a bitter laugh. “You abandoned me after that night like the heartless man you are! I had no one, Lucian…no one! I didn’t even know your name back then. Do you have any idea what I went through?”

“I... I—she’s still my daughter,” Lucian said hoarsely, guilt flickering in his eyes.

Layla’s lips trembled, but she held her ground. “She’s mine to protect. And if you try to take her from me, Lucian Hilton, I swear….I’ll ruin you.”

He stared at her for a long, broken moment. Then, with a shaky breath, he whispered, “Fine. Ruin me, Layla. Take everything, my power, my wealth, my name. But don’t ask me to let you go… don't take you away from me.”

“I can’t live with you anymore,” she said softly, turning away. “I’ve had enough.”

But before she could take another step, he collapsed to his knees.

The lion of the Hilton Empire, the man the world feared, was now kneeling before her, tears tracing down his chiseled face.

“I was drunk that night,” Lucian confessed, voice trembling. “I didn’t abandon you, Layla. I didn’t even know... I was unaware of everything. I was wrong. I’ll make it right this time. I’ll be good to you, even if you never forgive me. Please, don't throw us away.”

Her eyes stung as tears welled up. Despite everything, she knew one truth, Lucian had never treated her cruelly. He just... never truly loved her.

“Let’s just go our separate ways,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “You old fool.”

Neither of them realized, love had already turned into war.

********

Their marriage was nothing but a bargain.

Their love became a battlefield.

When fallen heiress Layla Carter is forced into a marriage with Lucian Hilton, the cold and ruthless illegitimate heir of the Hilton empire, all she wants is to save her daughter’s life. Love was never part of the deal.

But fate has a cruel sense of humor.

The man who once abandoned her that night; the father of her child turns out to be her husband.

The woman he thought he could control becomes the one who can destroy him.

As old wounds reopen and buried secrets rise to the surface, their fake marriage turns into a dangerous game of passion, power, and revenge, where the line between love and hate blurs, and redemption might come too late.