I was taken in the middle of the night, not screaming, not fighting, because the man who ordered it already knew my name.They said it was for my protection.He didn’t apologize. He didn’t explain.He simply told me the truth.You’ve been marked. And once that happens, the safest place for you is with me.He is feared in cities I’ve never been to, powerful in ways money can’t explain, and ruthless to everyone except me. Behind locked doors and armed guards, he gives me freedom I never had and takes the one thing I thought I still owned.My choices.I should hate him for keeping me captive.I should plan my escape.I should remember that men like him don’t fall in love they claim.But every enemy that comes closer ends up dead.Every threat disappears before it reaches me.And every time I look at him, I realize something far more terrifying than fear has taken root.Because the man who stole my freedom might be the only one willing to burn the world to keep me alive.And I don’t know when “kidnapped” turned into “chosen.”Or when protection became possession.Or when I stopped wanting to leave.

Aria Lawson has lived her whole life in the shadows—working double shifts, caring for a sick mother, and trying to stay invisible. All she wants is enough money to survive… until one night she accidentally walks into the private penthouse of Damian Volkov, the ruthless billionaire heir to the country’s oldest mafia dynasty.He’s cold.He’s dangerous.He’s the kind of man mothers warn their daughters about.Aria tries to run.But she saw something she shouldn’t have—something that puts a target on her back.Instead of killing her, Damian makes her an offer she doesn’t understand:“Be my wife for one year… or lose everything.”To protect her family, Aria signs the marriage contract.But living with Damian is like sleeping beside a wolf in a silk suit—beautiful but deadly. He has secrets locked behind steel eyes, scars he hides beneath designer shirts, and enemies who want Aria gone.Yet the longer she stays, the more she sees glimpses of the broken man beneath the monster—his nightmares, his loneliness, the darkness he thinks she can’t see.Aria wasn’t supposed to fall for him.Damian wasn’t supposed to crave her.And the world wasn’t supposed to discover their marriage.But when blood, desire, and betrayal collide, Aria must choose:Run from him…or burn with him.A forbidden love.A dangerous world.A marriage built on lies that might become the only real thing either of them has.

He offered her a ring with a deadline. She offered him a lie with a heartbeat.Aria Hart has one rule—never belong to anyone. But when her father’s company crashes into debt and her younger brother’s tuition depends on money she doesn’t have, she finds herself signing away the one thing still hers—her name.Cassian Vale, CEO of Vale Industries, is a man built out of rules and silence. To secure a multibillion-dollar merger, he needs a wife. Not a lover. Not a partner. A name on a line, a presence at events, and a contract that says: no love, no expectations, no mistakes.The arrangement is simple. Twelve months of appearances, a monthly allowance, and a divorce that will dissolve her back into anonymity.But nothing about Cassian Vale is simple.From the first night in his glass empire, Aria learns that his calm is an armor; his rules are a cage built to contain grief. And somewhere between their staged smiles and whispered fights, something real sparks—something too human for a contract to silence.He promised protection. She promised obedience.Both are breaking their promises.When Aria’s true identity unravels—a truth that could destroy his business and reputation—Cassian must choose between the empire he built and the woman who accidentally became its heartbeat.In a world ruled by signatures and secrets, love might be the most dangerous clause of all.

In the ruthless heart of New York City, where skyscrapers cast long shadows over broken dreams, a reckless night binds Aria Bennett, a 23-year-old journalist clawing her way out of debt, to Ethan Caldwell, a 32-year-old tech billionaire with a heart of steel and a trail of shattered lives.Their one-night stand spirals into a contract marriage, a million-dollar deal meant to save Ethan’s empire from rival Damian Holt. What begins as a cold transaction ignites a fiery rebellion in Aria’s soul, clashing with Ethan’s iron-clad vow to control her.Heated confrontations in penthouse suites and ruthless boardrooms weave a web of desire and distrust. When Chloe, Ethan’s vengeful ex, stokes the flames and a pregnancy threatens to expose every secret, Aria must decide whether to surrender to love or set fire to the world that tried to cage her.