Hazel Rogers never imagined her mother’s failing heart would force her into the arms of a stranger. With hospital bills piling up and no time left, she signs a desperate contract— as a surrogate for a billionaire who she doesn’t know. Ace Milan is cold, calculated, and devastatingly powerful, a man who built his empire on control and keeps  his heart locked behind a fortress. Hazel is just a transaction to him. But when a scary accident forces her to move into his home, the lines blur. He becomes cruel, unpredictable—testing her limits with sharp words and colder actions. Yet beneath his ice is something else, something broken, watching her with eyes that never quite soften. As her pregnancy progresses, Hazel stumbles upon whispers of the woman who came before her—the first surrogate. The one who vanished. No one speaks of her, and Ace refuses to explain. But the house holds secrets. Locked rooms. Late-night phone calls. Half-truths wrapped in charm. And suddenly, the child inside Hazel becomes more than a contract—it becomes a target. Torn between protecting the life growing inside her and uncovering the truth about the man she’s starting to feel dangerously drawn to, Hazel is forced to make a choice. Walk away before she ends up like the last surrogate… or risk everything to unravel the darkness Ace has spent his life hiding. One thing is clear—nothing in this arrangement is what it seems. And some secrets are buried deep for a reason.

  I'm certainly not hearing clearly. I woke up to the sound of a woman moaning. My mind tried to place the noise, but the rhythm of it… the urgency… wasn't hard to figure out. Most definitely sex.


  I sat up, rubbing the sleep away from my eyes. My head was groggy with my body sore. I rubbed at my belly, that low tug of nausea already curling in my gut. It had become a morning ritual—the tug-of-war I now have.


  I wasn't a stranger to the sound, but this wasn't just anyone. Not here. Not in this place. The Fortress was supposed to be quiet and guarded. Not filled with the raw sound of someone being… fucked.


  I pushed the covers off and slipped my feet to the floor. Still in my oversized shirt. I padded carefully down the corridor, following the noise. I told myself to go back. That it wasn't my business. That it could be anything. But I knew that wasn't true. Not with the way she was moaning. Not with how deep his voice sounded.


Chapter 22 - Chapter 22