Romans Third-Person POV & Histoires Protective Contract Marriage

Lily never imagined that a debt could cost her freedom. At nineteen, Lily is a college student with dreams of finishing her studies, falling in love, and living an ordinary life. But when she discovers that her parents borrowed money from the ruthless Godfather Loretto nineteen years ago, she learns the terrifying truth: if they cannot repay the debt, Lily must become the bride of his son. Ace is the cold and feared heir of a powerful mafia organization. He has no interest in love or marriage, but his father's command leaves him with no choice. When he meets Lily, he immediately decides that the innocent college girl is the last person he could ever want as his wife. Lily is equally terrified of the man she has been forced to marry. She hates his coldness, fears his dangerous world, and struggles to understand why her life has suddenly become a prison. Bound together by a marriage neither of them wanted, Lily and Ace must learn to survive each other — and the dangerous secrets surrounding the mafia family. But what happens when hatred begins to turn into something neither of them expected?

Xavier has spent his entire life being the perfect son—until his parents decide to take away the one thing he has never been willing to surrender: his freedom. Forced into an arranged marriage with the daughter of a powerful family, Xavier leaves home in anger, determined to have one last night of freedom before his life is decided for him. Then he meets Raul. A handsome, mysterious stranger who seems to be everything Xavier is drawn to. One night. Just one unforgettable night before Xavier returns to the life his family chose for him. But fate has other plans. Xavier discovers that the woman he is supposed to marry is Raul's younger sister—and she has no intention of going through with the arrangement. Worse still, Raul isn't just a stranger from one reckless night. He's Xavier's new university professor. And when the marriage alliance between their families begins to fall apart, Raul makes an unexpected proposal. Instead of marrying his sister, he will marry Xavier. Their marriage is supposed to exist in name only—a convenient arrangement designed to preserve their families' alliance. But living under the same roof while pretending to be nothing more than business partners proves far more complicated than either of them expected. Because Raul remembers that night. And Xavier can't forget it either. As their boundaries begin to disappear, an unexpected rival threatens everything they've built. What happens when the man Xavier thought would be nothing more than a one-night memory becomes his professor, his husband, and the one person he can no longer imagine living without? It was supposed to be a marriage in name only. So why does it feel so real?