Chapter 1: The Contract That Changed Everything

The rain fell hard that night, blurring the glass windows of the café where Ava Morgan sat, staring at the untouched cup of coffee before her. She’d been waiting for hours—waiting for a miracle that never seemed to come. Her rent was overdue, her younger sister’s medical bills were piling up, and the job she loved had slipped through her fingers just a week ago.

She was tired. Not just of the long nights and endless struggle, but of pretending she still believed everything would be fine.

When her phone buzzed, she almost ignored it. But the name that flashed on the screen made her pulse skip.

Unknown Number:

> “Miss Morgan, I represent Mr. Ethan Blackwood. He would like to meet with you. Tonight.”

Ava frowned. Ethan Blackwood—the billionaire hotel magnate every magazine in New York couldn’t stop talking about. Ruthless. Private. Too powerful to cross. What would a man like that want with a woman like her?

Her hands trembled slightly as she typed a reply.

> “Where?”

Minutes later, she found herself standing in the marble lobby of The Blackwood Tower, soaked from the rain, nerves twisting her stomach.

The elevator doors slid open to the top floor.

And there he was.

Ethan Blackwood stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, city lights painting his sharp features in gold and shadow. He turned slowly, eyes dark and unreadable, the kind of gaze that stripped away defenses without mercy.

“Miss Morgan,” he said, his deep voice calm, smooth, and utterly commanding. “I hear you’re desperate.”

Ava’s breath caught. “Excuse me?”

A faint smirk tugged at his lips. “You need money. I need… a wife.”

For a moment, she thought she’d misheard. “A wife?”

“Yes.” Ethan walked closer, each step deliberate. “For a year. A contract marriage. You’ll be compensated generously—enough to clear your debts, take care of your sister, and live comfortably.”

Her heart pounded. “And what do you get out of this?”

He stopped just inches away. “Control,” he said simply. “My grandfather’s will requires me to be married before he hands over the Blackwood Group. I don’t have time for love, Miss Morgan. I need compliance.”

Ava’s throat tightened. This couldn’t be real. It sounded like one of those ridiculous stories she used to read to escape her real life. But as Ethan extended a neatly folded document toward her, the weight of her situation came crashing down.

A contract marriage.

One year. No strings. No love.

She should have walked away. But instead, she asked quietly, “When do we start?”

Ethan’s dark eyes met hers, and for a fleeting moment, something unguarded flickered there—something raw and lonely.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “But understand this, Ava—this arrangement is business. Nothing more.”

Ava nodded, ignoring the sudden ache in her chest. “Understood.”

Yet as she signed her name on the line, her hand trembled—not from fear, but from something far more dangerous.

Hope.

And for the first time in years, she felt the faint spark of warmth in her heart—the kind that could either save her… or burn her completely.