BOUND BY REVENGE, SEALED BY FATE
Iris Chen, 25, thought she knew what love meant. For six years, she poured her heart into Damien Hartwell—her college sweetheart, her fiancé, the man she believed would be her forever. She worked three jobs to support his startup dreams, deferred her own career, and endured her stepfamily's cruelty because he promised they'd build a life together.
Then, the day before their wedding, Damien announces he's marrying her dying stepsister Vivienne instead. "She only has six months to live," he says, as if that makes breaking Iris's heart noble. "You're strong. You'll understand."
Iris's father—who remarried after her mother's death—sides with his "fragile" stepdaughter. Her inheritance? Stripped away and given to Vivienne as a wedding gift. Her job at the family company? Terminated. Even her apartment was never really hers—it was in Damien's name.
Cast out with nothing but a suitcase and a shattered heart, Iris is ready to disappear into obscurity. Until a sleek black car pulls up beside her in the rain, and a man who looks like sin in a three-piece suit offers her an umbrella.
Adrian Thorne, 35, is Manhattan's most ruthless corporate titan—a self-made billionaire with ice in his veins and a reputation for destroying anyone who crosses him. He's also devastatingly handsome, dangerously intelligent, and apparently... interested in her.
His offer is simple: a one-year contract marriage. He needs a wife to secure a inheritance from his traditionalist grandmother and close a major business deal. She needs revenge, money, and a way to make Damien regret every breath he takes.
The rules are crystal clear:
- No emotional attachment
- No falling in love
- No questions about his past
- Public perfection, private distance
Except Adrian doesn't do distance. Every carefully staged kiss for the paparazzi lingers too long. Every "pretend" touch burns too hot. Every night he insists she sleep in his penthouse "for appearances" ends with them barely keeping to their separate rooms.
And when Iris discovers she's pregnant—from one forbidden night when the lines between fake and real completely blurred—their contract marriage becomes the most dangerous truth either has ever faced.
Because Adrian Thorne isn't who he claims to be. He's not just some billionaire who happened to find her that rainy night. He's been watching her for years, waiting for the perfect moment to make his move. And his connection to her past—and to Damien—runs far deeper and darker than she ever imagined.
Damien is on his knees begging (especially after "dying" Vivienne makes a miraculous recovery and reveals her own agenda). Her family wants her back now that she's Mrs. Adrian Thorne. But her fake husband isn't playing anymore.
"You were my revenge plan, Iris. Now you're my entire world. And I don't share."
