Chapter One: The Contract
"You'll marry me. For one year. In exchange, I'll give you one million dollars."
Ava blinked. The silence in the room wrapped around her like a noose.
"Excuse me?" she managed to whisper.
Dominic Grey, billionaire CEO of GreyTech, didn't blink. His icy grey eyes stayed locked on hers. "You said you needed money. I'm offering a solution."
Ava swallowed hard. Just twenty-four hours ago, she'd been evicted from her apartment, fired from her job, and slapped with her mother's hospital bill.
Now she was in the office of the coldest man in New York, being offered a fake marriage like she was a character in one of those dramas her best friend binge-watched.
"Why me?" she asked. "You could hire any actress, any model—"
He leaned forward. "Because you're desperate. And because I need someone who won't fall in love."
Her heart skipped. She should walk away. This was crazy. Dangerous.
But her mother was dying.
"Fine," she said, voice trembling. "I'll marry you."
His lips curved into a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Good.
The wedding is tomorrow."