Chapter 1 Just Sign the Papers

"Sign the papers, and we'll both get what we want."

His voice was cold-clinical. Like this was just another business transaction. Like she wasn't about to sell the last piece of her soul for a man who didn't know the first thing about her.

Amara Hale sat across from Damien Blackwood, the infamous CEO of Blackwood Group. The man with eyes as dark as midnight and a heart even darker. Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in a black suit that looked like it cost more than her father's hospital bills. He didn't smile. He never did.

"No strings attached. One year. You get your wife. I get my money." She kept her voice calm, steady, but her fingers trembled slightly under the table.

Damien raised an eyebrow, eyes scanning her from head to toe. Not in desire-but in calculation.

"You're not what I expected," he said finally.

She forced a small smile. "Disappointed?"

"Indifferent." His answer was instant, cutting.

Her smile didn't fade, but something behind her eyes flickered.

She picked up the pen and glanced down at the document between them. Marriage Contract. One year. No intimacy unless agreed. Confidential. Divorce upon expiration.

Simple. Cold. Perfect for someone like him.

And for someone like her-hiding behind a name that wasn't hers anymore, with secrets that could get her killed-it was safer this way.

She signed.

Damien didn't even flinch. He picked up the pen and scribbled his signature with the kind of ease that came from signing million-dollar deals every day.

"Congratulations," he said, sliding the folder toward his assistant. "You're now Mrs. Blackwood."

But Amara didn't blink. Didn't smile.

Not yet.

She would play the obedient wife. She would stay quiet, unnoticed.

Until the day she brought him-and everyone else who ruined her family-down to their knees.