12‑month contract marriage. Millions to save her mother. No falling in love allowed. Evelyn Hart sells twelve months of her life to billionaire Adrian Blackwood to pay for her mother’s Alzheimer’s treatment and clear her late father’s tainted name. Cold, guarded Adrian only wants a pretend wife to win his inheritance and fight his vicious stepmother. Rules are clear: no romance, no attachments, walk away clean when the year ends. Yet pretense melts into attraction. Behind the glitter of Manhattan high society, two wounded people start to care. Family treachery, hidden crimes and bitter rivals rise against them. Can they survive the lies… without losing their hearts?