NewEraCulture

A high-society romance where pretense turned into reality.
 
Van, the heir to a top-tier fortune and a regular on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, had been mocked for being perpetually single, with even rumors swirling about his "dysfunction."
 
Winnie, a Hollywood superstar desperate to escape her constant barrage of scandals, encountered this billionaire worth tens of billions. To her surprise, Van presented her with an unexpected proposal:
 
"Pretend to date me for a year. You won't have to do anything else. I'll pay you $100 million after taxes."
 
She planned to laugh it off but couldn't ignore the man's chiseled features—the way his shadowed face was lit up as he casually raised an eyebrow and lit a cigarette in the glow of firelight, his voice steady and laced with danger.
 
She remembered their first meeting in a torrential downpour—the man reclining in a silver Maybach, eyes half-closed, exuding charm yet utterly unattainable. She also remembered later, when everyone had believed him to be unshakable and untouchable, he had appeared alone, worn and weary, at her remote desert film set, quietly asking:
 
"Do you really have to shoot this kiss scene?"
 
Behind this contract lay something far deeper than money—a fixation, a love that had turned real, or perhaps an irresistible force neither of them had recognized.
 
$100 million had set the stage for a high-stakes battle of love and hate that would ultimately unravel.

A Love Confession from Las Vegas

"I thought you loved me. I guess I was wrong."


"Who said someone with a family couldn't be with me?"


"Yeah, you didn't hang up. I heard him talking to you...I'm sorry."


"I've only worked with him; it really doesn't mean anything. I don't like him, and we have no relationship. He calls me Tina, which is the name of my character in the movie...None of that matters. I don't like him, and I never will."


"I should have asked you directly, instead of eavesdropping on your phone call. But to be honest, I don't have the right to ask you these things, and I didn't want you to know I did something like that."


"You asked the wrong way. It would've been better if you had just asked me directly."


"I thought you said it wasn't the right time for her to meet your family." Eric's words snapped Van out of his thoughts.


Chapter 129