Chapter 1 — The Perfect Lie
Juliette Ward stood in the center of the grand ballroom, a crystal flute of champagne in her hand, smiling like the perfect wife she had been paid to be. All around her, Houston’s most powerful elite mingled beneath golden chandeliers, laughing, toasting, and marveling at the glamorous life of Dominic and Juliette Voss.
They called them The Dream Couple. The man who built an empire from the ground up, and the woman who stood by his side—poised, polished, and impossibly perfect. They didn’t know she was a ghost in her own life. A well-dressed illusion designed to make him look good.
Three years ago, Juliette had signed a contract with one rule: never fall for Dominic Voss.
And yet, tonight, as she watched him across the room in his custom tuxedo, jaw tight and eyes cold, she knew she had broken that rule.
Dominic didn’t look at her the way husbands looked at their wives. His eyes skimmed past her like she was background noise. Necessary. Decorative. Convenient. That was all she had ever been to him. And tonight, that role would finally end.
Her phone buzzed in her clutch. A message from his assistant.
Mr. Voss will see you in his study.
Of course he wouldn’t send the message himself.
She slipped out of the ballroom, her heels clicking softly on the marble floor as she made her way down the long, dark hall that led to Dominic’s private study. Her heart pounded harder than she liked to admit.
Three years of pretending. Three years of showing up at galas, smiling for cameras, pretending to love a man who never once touched her without calculation. And yet—she had felt something real.
She pushed the door open.
He didn’t look up. He sat behind the massive oak desk, papers stacked neatly in front of him. The glow from the lamp cast long shadows on his face.
“I assume you know why I called you here,” he said without greeting.
Juliette stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind her. “The contract ends tonight.”
Dominic’s eyes finally met hers. Cold. Distant. He nodded once and pushed a sleek leather folder across the desk toward her.
“Everything is in order. No contest. No mess.”
Her throat tightened as she opened the folder and saw the divorce papers. Her name. His signature. The final seal on a lie they both agreed to.
She looked up. “I’ll sign it. But I have terms.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What more could you possibly want?”
“I don’t want the house. I don’t want the car, or your name,” she said calmly. “I want cash. Paid in full before I leave. All 16 million.”
Dominic leaned back, assessing her like a business acquisition. “That’s a bold demand.”
“You’re a bold man. It’s fitting,” she replied.
He didn’t argue.
She stepped closer, meeting his gaze. “And I want one more thing.”
His brow lifted again. “Which is?”
She hesitated, heart in her throat. “When I leave… I want you to drive me to the airport.”
He looked at her for a long moment, and for the first time in a long time, something flickered in his eyes. Something almost human.
“And?”
She exhaled.
“One real kiss. Goodbye.”
Dominic stood slowly, walking around the desk until he stood just inches away.
“I thought you understood,” he said, voice quiet. “This was never real.”
Juliette nodded. “I know. Just humor me, Dominic. One real kiss—for the woman who loved you without a contract.”
End of Chapter 1.
