“What? Clap. I am a married man now.”Driven, ruthless, and self-made, thirty-two-year-old Ethan Thorne has everything under control—until his high-society fiancée flees hours before the wedding of the century. With over two hundred international journalists circling like vultures and his tyrannical father’s ultimatum ringing in his ears—marry before midnight, or lose the CEO seat of Thorne Industries—Ethan refuses to let his empire crumble. He would marry a ghost before he lets his toxic family win.Escaping the chaos for a single drag of his cigar, his piercing gray eyes cut through the thick smoke to find a stranger huddled in his private terrace backyard.She is impossibly small, dressed in a slightly torn pastel pink gown, sobbing in raw despair as she clutches a severely sprained ankle. At just twenty years old, she is running from her own living nightmare—betrayed and sold by her abusive father for quick wealth. She has no money, a ruined ankle, and no home left to return to.Two desperate souls. One cold, transactional lifeline.Stepping out of the shadows, the intimidating billionaire drops a flawless diamond ring into her lap and offers an unyielding choice: "Marry me by midnight, and I'll solve whatever problem is making you cry. I will draft a contract. You can leave whenever you want, but I can never ask for a divorce."With footsteps of her pursuers approaching in the dark, she reaches out and takes his warm hand.Swept up in a powerful princess carry, the nameless girl enters the grand wedding hall clutched tightly against his chest. But when the legal registry requires her signature at the altar, a single name is written in elegant cursive: Vivienne Cross.Hearing his late mother's name drop from the lips of his new, pocket-size bride freezes the cold CEO to his very core.Bound by a bulletproof contract where she holds all the power, a cynical man who despises relationships and a fierce, innocent girl who has never known safety must navigate a house of secrets. Ethan promised her absolute wealth and protection—but he never expected his little bride to completely shatter the ice around his heart.