*“I never asked you to love me, Maliya.” She looked at him, tears filling her eyes. “Then why did you make me your wife?” “Because I thought I could leave this world without regretting anything.” “And now?” Nikolai took her hand, his fingers trembling slightly. “Now I regret that I ever met you… because I finally have something worth living for.” Maliya’s tears fell uncontrollably. “You have only a few weeks left.” He nodded and pulled her closer, his voice breaking. “Then don't waste them crying over me. Stay with me until the end.” She pressed her face against his chest. “I don't want an ending, Nikolai.” “Neither do I.”* When a devastating diagnosis gives billionaire Nikolai Volkov only eighteen months to live, his ruthless family issues one final demand: produce a legitimate heir or lose everything he built. Desperate to stay in control, Nikolai offers a no-escape contract to Maliya, a strong-willed woman buried in family debt. The contract says she has to move into his private estate, become his wife and give him a child. In return, he’ll erase her debts and secure her future. Maliya expects a cold and emotionless marriage. What she doesn’t expect is the man behind the empire–a brilliant but broken man who is slowly losing control of his life. As Nikolai’s health gets worse, his carefully built walls begin to break, and the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to tell where the contract ends and real feelings begin. What starts as a business deal slowly turns into something deeper, more passionate, and far more dangerous. Because falling in love was never part of the contract… and time is running out.