Chapter 1 1

The rain was coming down in sheets, gray and relentless. Hester Irwin stood outside the Marriage Bureau, shivering in her trench coat. She had been waiting for two hours, based on a tip from a paparazzi forum she monitored. Isham Rhodes was scheduled for a meeting with the City Clerk at 9:00 AM. Twenty-four hours earlier, she hadn't even known his schedule. Twenty-four hours earlier, her life had still been a beautiful, fragile lie.

That lie had shattered the moment the key turned in the lock with a silence that felt heavier than a scream. Hester had pushed the door to the penthouse open, her movements automatic, her mind still lingering on the photoshoot that had been cancelled only twenty minutes ago. The studio lights had blown a fuse, sending everyone home early. It was a mundane reason for a life-altering afternoon.

She stepped into the foyer. The air inside the apartment was stagnant, smelling faintly of lemon polish and something else-something sweeter, cloying. Her eyes dropped to the floor. A trail of fabric disrupted the pristine marble hallway.

First, a tie. Navy blue silk. Haywood's favorite.

Three steps later, a shoe. A red-soled stiletto that didn't belong to her.

Hester stopped. Her breath hitched in her throat, a sharp, physical pain striking the center of her chest. She recognized that shoe. She had bought the pair last week as a birthday gift for Brandy Craig, the agency's rising star, the girl Hester had mentored, the girl who called her "big sister."

Hester's stomach turned over, a cold wave of nausea rolling through her gut. She forced her legs to move, stepping over the discarded red Valentino dress that lay in a heap near the entrance to the living room. The silence of the apartment was no longer empty; it was vibrating with low, muffled sounds coming from the master bedroom.

The door was ajar. Just an inch.

Hester approached it, her bare feet making no sound on the rug. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic, irregular rhythm that made her fingertips numb. She didn't want to look. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to run, to leave, to pretend she had never come home early. But she couldn't.

She pushed her phone through the crack in the door.

The camera lens adjusted to the dim light. On the screen, the betrayal was absolute. Haywood Mckee was there, tangled in the sheets of the bed Hester had picked out six months ago. Brandy was beneath him, her head thrown back, her laughter mixing with a moan that sounded like a knife scraping against bone.

"Haywood," Brandy sighed, her voice thick. "What about Hester?"

"Forget her," Haywood groaned, his face buried in Brandy's neck. "She's yesterday's news. We're the future, baby."

Hester's thumb trembled as she held the record button. Ten seconds. That was all she took. She pulled the phone back, her hand shaking so violently she almost dropped it. The nausea was overwhelming now, acid rising in her throat. She didn't burst in. She didn't scream. She didn't throw the vase sitting on the console table.

She turned around and walked out.

The elevator ride down to the lobby felt like a descent into hell. Hester leaned against the cold metal wall, gasping for air, her lungs refusing to expand. She unlocked her phone again, not to watch the video, but to check her banking app. She needed to leave. She needed a hotel.

Face ID verified. The screen loaded.

Balance: $12.45.

Hester stared at the number. She refreshed the page. Joint Account - Mckee Management: $0.00. Savings: $0.00.

The air in the elevator vanished completely. It wasn't just an affair. It was an erasure. Haywood hadn't just cheated on her; he had liquidated her. Every check from her last three campaigns, every residual, every cent she had earned in the last five years had been funneled through the agency accounts he controlled.

She stumbled out into the lobby, the doorman's greeting sounding like it was coming from underwater. She walked onto the street, the New York noise assaulting her senses. Taxis honked, tourists shouted, sirens wailed. She stood on the curb, penniless, homeless, and betrayed by the two people she had trusted with her life.

Her fingers brushed against the small, diamond studs in her ears-a gift from her mother, the only thing that was truly hers. It wouldn't be much, but it would be a start. A twenty-minute walk to a dingy pawn shop on a side street yielded three hundred dollars in cash. Enough for a cheap motel room, a burner phone, and a plan.

She looked down at her new phone, her thumb hovering over the news feed. A headline from the Financial Times caught her eye.

Isham Rhodes, CEO of Rhodes Media, faces board pressure: Marry by 30 or forfeit the Grandmother's Trust control.

Hester stared at the photo of the man. Isham Rhodes. Cold eyes, sharp jaw, a reputation for being a ruthless machine in a human suit. He needed a wife to secure his empire. She needed a shield to survive hers.

It was insane. It was impossible.

But it was her only move. She hailed a cab. "Take me to the corner of Centre and Worth," she told the driver, naming the intersection nearest City Hall. "And wait." Her voice didn't sound like her own. It sounded like iron.

At 8:58 AM, a convoy of three black Escalades pulled up to the curb, splashing dirty water onto the sidewalk. The doors opened, and security guards poured out, forming a perimeter.

Isham Rhodes stepped out of the middle vehicle. He was taller in person, radiating a kind of kinetic energy that made the air around him feel charged. He wore a charcoal suit that probably cost more than Hester's parents' house. He looked annoyed, checking his watch, while his assistant, a frantic man with glasses, trailed behind him.

"The candidates provided by the matchmaker are unacceptable, Silas," Isham was saying, his voice a deep baritone that cut through the rain. "I need a contract, not a romance."

Hester saw her window. She lunged forward.

A bodyguard's hand shot out, grabbing her arm. "Back up, ma'am."

Hester didn't flinch. She didn't look at the guard. She locked eyes with Isham Rhodes.

"Mr. Rhodes," she called out, her voice steady despite the adrenaline flooding her veins. "I hear you need a wife to secure your grandmother's trust. I hear you're running out of time."

Isham stopped. He raised a hand, signaling the guard to pause. He turned slowly, his gaze sweeping over her-wet hair, pale face, trembling hands, but eyes that burned with a desperate fire.

"And you are?" he asked, his tone bored, dangerous.

"Hester Irwin," she said. She didn't say Hester the Model. She didn't say Hester the Victim. "I need protection. You need a puppet. I promise to be the most professional wife you've ever ignored."

The rain plastered her hair to her forehead. Isham stared at her for a long beat. He seemed to be calculating, analyzing the variables. He looked at her wet coat, her clenched jaw, the way she stood her ground against a man twice her size.

He checked his watch again. "You have three minutes to convince me why I shouldn't have you arrested for harassment."

"I have no family to leak stories to the press," Hester said, the words tumbling out fast. "I have a public image that can be molded to whatever suits your narrative. I require zero emotional labor from you. I don't want your love. I don't want your time. I want a legal binding document that makes me untouchable."

Isham's lips twitched. It wasn't a smile. It was a reaction to efficiency. He looked at Silas.

"Cancel the meeting with the heiress," Isham said.

Silas dropped his phone. "Sir?"

Isham looked back at Hester. "Do you have your ID?"

Hester nodded, pulling her passport from her pocket. Her hands were shaking so hard she almost dropped it.

"Come with me," Isham said.

The walk into the bureau was a blur. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead. The clerk behind the counter looked from Isham's bespoke suit to Hester's damp coat, his eyebrows rising, but he didn't ask questions. Money had a way of silencing curiosity.

They signed the papers. There were no vows. No rings. Just the scratch of a pen on paper, binding two strangers together in the eyes of the law.

They walked back out into the rain. The Escalade was waiting.

Isham turned to her. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black card made of anodized titanium. He held it out.

"Buy a ring," he said, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Make it convincing. And move into the Upper East Side estate tonight. Silas will send the address."

He didn't wait for her answer. He got into the car, the door slamming shut with a heavy thud.

Hester stood alone on the sidewalk, the black card heavy in her hand. The rain was still falling, but she couldn't feel the cold anymore. She was Mrs. Rhodes. And the war had just begun.