SOPHIE'S POV
Three in the morning and Sophie's eyes burned from staring at her laptop screen. She'd read everything about Daniel Stone that existed on the internet. Twice. Maybe three times. She'd lost count somewhere between the articles about his hostile takeovers and the rumor blogs about his personal life.
The facts were simple. Daniel Stone was thirty-three years old. His parents died when he was twenty-one. He inherited a failing company and turned it into a multi-billion dollar empire. He'd never been photographed smiling. He'd never dated anyone publicly. He'd never done anything that showed he was capable of caring about another human being.
So why was he texting her?
Sophie pulled up the text message again. "I have a solution to your problem." That was what he'd said. Not "I might be able to help." Not "Let's talk about options." He said he had a solution. Like he already knew exactly what she needed.
She closed the laptop and looked at the clock. Nine hours until midnight.
Her hands shook as she climbed out of bed. She'd slept maybe twenty minutes in the last thirty-six hours. Her body felt hollow, like someone had reached inside and scooped out everything that made her human.
The shower was hot and it felt good to stand under the water and pretend she was washing away the last two days. But the water couldn't wash away the fear. It sat in her chest like a stone, heavy and cold.
She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and didn't recognize the girl staring back. When did she get so pale? When did her eyes get so dark? She looked older. She looked broken. She looked like someone who would make a deal with a stranger in the middle of the night because she had no other choice.
Sophie put on her nicest dress. The navy one her mother said made her look professional. She styled her hair carefully, applied makeup to hide how exhausted she was, and then she sat on her bed and waited for time to pass.
Eight hours until midnight.
She texted her mother: "I'm working on something. Don't worry. It's going to be okay."
Her mother texted back immediately: "Sophie honey what are you doing? It's too late to be awake."
Sophie didn't answer. What could she say? That she was about to walk into a meeting with a billionaire stranger who might be offering help or might be setting up some kind of trap? That she'd made a deal with someone she'd never met?
She'd sound crazy.
Seven hours until midnight.
Sophie sat in her car in the hospital parking lot. She'd told her mother she was going home to sleep. Instead, she was driving across the city in the dark, toward a building owned by a man who probably bought and sold people like her for entertainment.
The streets were mostly empty. Just the occasional car passing by and the occasional person walking home from late shifts. Sophie's hands gripped the steering wheel so tight her knuckles turned white.
What was she doing? This was insane. This was the kind of thing that happened to girls who ended up missing on true crime podcasts.
But her father's hospital bills were three hundred thousand dollars. And climbing.
She drove faster.
One hour until midnight.
Sophie sat in the lobby of the Stone Industries building and tried to breathe normally. The glass walls stretched up forever. The art on the walls probably cost more than her parents made in a year. Everything about this building screamed power and money and danger.
The security guard at the front desk didn't even look up when she approached. "Forty-seventh floor," he said. "Mr. Stone is expecting you."
He was expecting her. Like this was planned. Like he'd known all along that she would show up.
Sophie walked to the elevator with her heart pounding so hard she could hear it. The elevator doors opened and her reflection stared back at her from the mirrored walls. A girl in a navy dress, dressed up for some kind of occasion, about to sign away her future to a stranger.
The elevator climbed.
Forty-seven stories.
Each floor passing by.
Sophie felt like she was walking toward something she couldn't take back. The moment she stepped out of this elevator, everything would change. Whatever he was about to propose, it would be big enough to solve a multi-million dollar problem. Big enough to be worth his time. And that meant it was big enough to cost her something she couldn't afford to lose.
The elevator doors opened.
The office was massive. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the entire city spread out below like someone had scattered lights across black velvet. The skyline looked infinite. Like there were a thousand different worlds happening at the same time, all connected, all separate.
Daniel Stone stood at the window with his back to her. He wore a suit that probably cost more than her family's mortgage payment. His shoulders were broad. His posture was perfect, like someone who'd spent his whole life being in charge.
He didn't turn around when she entered. He just spoke to her reflection in the glass.
"Sophie Chen. Thank you for coming." His voice was calm. Controlled. Like this was just another business meeting for him, not the most important conversation of her life.
"How do you know me?" Sophie's voice came out smaller than she wanted it to.
Daniel finally turned around. His eyes were dark and sharp, like he could see everything about her just by looking. He was handsome in a way that made her uncomfortable. Not because he was beautiful, but because he looked like power. He looked untouchable.
"I make it my business to know things." He walked toward her slowly, like he was in no hurry at all. "I know your father had a heart attack. I know your family's company is bankrupt. I know you have two days before the hospital stops your father's treatment unless you can pay them. I know you have nowhere to turn."
Sophie's breath caught. He'd done his research. He knew everything. That shouldn't have surprised her, but it did.
"What do you want from me?" she whispered.
Daniel smiled, and it was the coldest smile she'd ever seen.
"I want you to marry me, Sophie. For three years exactly. You live in my penthouse. You appear at events with me. You be my wife in every way that matters to the public. And when three years are up, you walk away with twenty million dollars and your family's problems are solved."
Sophie's knees felt weak. She must have heard him wrong. He couldn't have just said what she thought he said.
"You're insane," she breathed.
"No. I'm practical." Daniel walked to his desk and pulled out a document. Forty pages. Maybe more. A contract. Her contract. "I need a wife. You need money. This is a transaction. Nothing more. No love. No emotional involvement. No crossing the line. We help each other for three years, then we both move on."
Sophie stared at the contract like it was a bomb that might explode.
"Why would you do this?" she asked. "You don't even know me."
"Exactly." Daniel sat down in his chair and folded his hands on the desk. "You won't become attached to the idea of me. You'll see this as what it is. A job. A contract. You'll do your job and then you'll leave. That's exactly what I need."
He gestured to the chair across from his desk.
"Read the terms. Make sure you understand what you're signing. I don't do surprises. Everything is spelled out clearly."
Sophie walked toward the chair on shaking legs. She sat down and started reading.
The contract was clear. Painfully clear. Marriage for three years. No divorce before that date except in case of infidelity from the spouse seeking the divorce. All appearances kept public. All arrangements kept private. No love. No real relationship. Just a transaction.
And at the end, waiting for her if she could survive three years of being married to this man, was twenty million dollars.
Her family would be safe.
Her father could rest.
Her brother could finish school.
She could breathe.
Sophie looked up at Daniel.
"If I do this," she said slowly, "you'll save my family?"
"Already done." Daniel slid a piece of paper across the desk. A bank statement. Twenty million dollars transferred to her mother's account. "Consider it a down payment on your commitment."
The money was already there. He'd already sent it. Like he'd never doubted for a second that she would say yes.
Because he'd known she didn't have a choice.
Sophie's hand moved toward the pen before her brain could catch up. This was happening. She was actually doing this. She was about to sign a contract that would bind her to this cold, powerful stranger for three years.
"One more thing," Daniel said quietly as her pen hovered above the paper.
Sophie looked up at him.
"Once you sign this, your old life is over. You move into my penthouse tomorrow morning. You become Mrs. Daniel Stone. And you don't look back."
Sophie pressed the pen to the paper and signed her name.
The moment the ink touched the contract, she heard something inside her break. Not from sadness. From relief. Her family was safe. Everything else was just details.
Daniel poured two glasses of champagne and slid one across the desk to her.
"To new beginnings," he said, raising his glass.
Sophie picked up her champagne with a hand that wouldn't stop shaking.
She was married now.
To a stranger.
And tomorrow her entire life would change.