Prologue
205 Words
The night smelled of champagne and flashbulbs. Elena Hart should have been celebrating the wrap of her latest film, but instead she stood in the corner of a glittering hotel ballroom, clutching her phone like it might detonate.
One headline after another flashed across the screen:
Hollywood Starlet Elena Hart Marries Billionaire Adrian Blake in Secret.
Her heart pounded louder than the music. Married. To him.
It was supposed to be nothing. A signature, a contract, a neat solution to two messy problems. He needed stability; she needed silence. No flowers, no vows, no witnesses. Just a piece of paper hidden in a drawer.
Yet tonight, every camera in the city seemed aimed at her, ready to capture the lie.
Across the room, Adrian Blake appeared in his black suit like the scandal had dressed him itself. Cool, composed, untouchable. His gaze found hers, and for one dangerous second, she forgot to breathe.
“Smile,” he murmured when he reached her, his voice a velvet warning. “They’re watching.”
Her lips curved, though the truth tasted like iron.
The world thought she was his wife. And maybe—just maybe—the real mistake wasn’t signing the papers.
It was underestimating Adrian Blake.
- Writer
