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contractmarriage

Bought as a replacement, loved as a wife.

On the night her life is falling apart, Elena Moore receives an offer that should be impossible to refuse and too dangerous for her to accept. Lucas Hayes is a powerful billionaire CEO whose perfect life is about to collapse that night .Hours before his wedding, his fiancée disappears without a trace. Canceling the wedding would destroy his company, shake investor confidence, and shatter the last wish of his dying grandmother. So he was Desperate to protect everything he has built, Lucas makes a ruthless decision , he hires a replacement. Elena is poor, anonymous, and struggling to survive. Chosen only because she looks enough like the missing woman, she is offered a contract that will change her life forever. For one year, she must take another woman’s name, wear another woman’s ring, and stand beside a man who makes it clear that she is temporary. There will be no love, no promises, and no future beyond the contract. Bound by secrets and a marriage built on lies, Elena steps into a world of wealth, power, and cold expectations. As she learns to navigate high society and a husband who refuses to show emotion, lines begin to blur. Lucas finds his control slipping, while Elena risks losing her heart in a relationship that was never meant to be real. But when the woman Elena replaced suddenly returns, the truth threatens to destroy everything. Forced to choose between duty and desire, Lucas must confront the cost of his decisions, while Elena must decide whether she will walk away with her dignity or  fight for a love that was never part of the deal. In a marriage born from a contract, can love survive when the truth is finally revealed?
Glowrite · 148 Views

Blackmail and roses

Excerpt... We were too close. I knew we were too close, but neither of us moved. The office was dark except for the glow of our laptops. It was past midnight. We'd been working for hours, building the case, connecting pieces, and somewhere along the way we'd ended up on the same side of the desk. Shoulders almost touching. Close enough that I could smell his cologne "This is a bad idea," I whispered. "I know." "We agreed. Fake engagement. Professional. No complications." "I remember." His eyes dropped to my mouth, lingered there. "Doesn't change the fact that I want to kiss you." My breath caught. "Roman..." "Tell me you don't want it too." His voice was rough, low. "Tell me I'm reading this wrong and I'll move. I'll go back to my side of the desk and we'll pretend this never happened." I should have said it. Should have lied. But I was so tired of lying. "I can't," I whispered. "Can't what?" "Tell you that you're wrong." Something flashed in his eyes, dark and hungry. He leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away. I didn't. Journalist Amara Reyes has spent sixteen years chasing the truth about her father's death. Heart attack, they said. Case closed. Everyone moved on except Amara. Now someone is watching her every move, roses appear where they shouldn't, messages turn from warnings to threats, and the closer she gets to the truth about what really happened sixteen years ago, the more dangerous everything becomes. Roman Vale is a billionaire CEO who doesn't tolerate loose ends, cold and ruthless, the kind of man who can destroy you with a single phone call. When Amara starts digging into Vale Industries, he sees a problem that needs to be eliminated. But Amara isn't easy to eliminate. When blackmail forces them into a fake engagement, the line between enemies and allies disappears. She needs his resources, he needs her silence, but the deeper they dig, the more they realize their fathers' deaths sixteen years ago weren't coincidences but murders. Two fathers, two deaths, one killer who's been hiding in plain sight for over a decade. The threats are escalating, the stalker is getting bolder, and falling in love might be the most dangerous thing they've ever done because the person who killed their fathers is still watching, still waiting, and won't stop until both of them are dead.
Kathywrites · 2k Views

The Architect's Debt

Title: The Architect’s Debt "I didn't buy your debt to set you free. I bought it to see how you'd look in a cage." In 2026 Mumbai, privacy is a myth and data is the only truth. Meher Khanna learns this the hard way when she signs away her life to save her mother. She expected a cold transaction; she didn’t expect Vedant Raizada. The Owner: Vedant is "The Architect," a man who views the world in blueprints and cold hard steel. He lives in a 16,000-square-foot penthouse that breathes through AI and security sensors. He has no room for emotions, yet he is obsessed with Meher’s defiance. He has made one vow: He will never touch her. Not until she asks. The Prisoner: Meher is a girl of cotton sarees and old-world heart trapped in a world of glass and biometric tracking. She refuses to be another "asset" on Vedant’s balance sheet. But in the silence of the mansion, every heartbeat she has is recorded, and every breath she takes is analyzed by the man watching her through the screens. The Secret: The Raizada mansion is beautiful, but it’s built on a graveyard of secrets. Vanya Raizada, Vedant’s sharp and enigmatic sister, knows the truth about the woman who occupied Meher’s room before her. As the "Ghost" in the servers begins to glitch the house's AI, Meher realizes that the Architect isn't just keeping her in—he’s keeping something else out. In a game of power where the air is thin and the tension is 180°C, Meher must decide: Will she find the flaw in the Architect’s design, or will she succumb to the luxury of his obsession?
Lyra_Wrts · 758 Views

The Emperor Contest

Milas was perfectly content with being an unimportant person. Living in the bottom district had taught him that anonymity was a valuable resource—right up there with clean water, a steady paycheck, and knowing which alleyways the patrol drones preferred. And run when you have to. Unfortunately, running into a noble estate while being chased by officers turned out to be a catastrophic deviation from that philosophy. Now he is engaged. To Duke Finnian Reyes, one of fifteen candidates eligible to compete for the imperial throne. A man famous for his glacial expression, nonexistent social life, and alarming efficiency. A man who apparently needed a fiancé more urgently than he needed background checks. Milas has problems of his own. He is technically illegal, officially unemployed, and one blood test away from being shipped to a war zone. Signing a marriage contract he could not read was therefore… not ideal. On the other hand, it came with private shuttles, tailored clothes, and a temporary immunity from law enforcement, which made it the most luxurious bad decision of his life. Finnian, for his part, is pursuing the throne with stubbornness rather than enthusiasm. Raised far from palace corridors, he knows how fragile ordinary comfort is and how allergic most nobles are to actually fixing things. If winning the imperial contest is the only way to force reforms, then fine. He will play the game. Even if his new fiancé keeps flirting at inappropriate moments. With the capital star looming, political rivals sharpening knives behind polite smiles, the Emperor Contest has acquired its most questionable couple. MxM Milas x Finnian
forever_nepenthe · 503 Views