numusjamesroses

Hazel Rogers never imagined her mother’s failing heart would force her into the arms of a stranger. With hospital bills piling up and no time left, she signs a desperate contract— as a surrogate for a billionaire who she doesn’t know. Ace Milan is cold, calculated, and devastatingly powerful, a man who built his empire on control and keeps  his heart locked behind a fortress. Hazel is just a transaction to him. But when a scary accident forces her to move into his home, the lines blur. He becomes cruel, unpredictable—testing her limits with sharp words and colder actions. Yet beneath his ice is something else, something broken, watching her with eyes that never quite soften. As her pregnancy progresses, Hazel stumbles upon whispers of the woman who came before her—the first surrogate. The one who vanished. No one speaks of her, and Ace refuses to explain. But the house holds secrets. Locked rooms. Late-night phone calls. Half-truths wrapped in charm. And suddenly, the child inside Hazel becomes more than a contract—it becomes a target. Torn between protecting the life growing inside her and uncovering the truth about the man she’s starting to feel dangerously drawn to, Hazel is forced to make a choice. Walk away before she ends up like the last surrogate… or risk everything to unravel the darkness Ace has spent his life hiding. One thing is clear—nothing in this arrangement is what it seems. And some secrets are buried deep for a reason.

THE BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET : Her contract, His Heart

The awkwardness in the dining was eating me up. I mean it has always been awkward but not like this. I saw his nakedness. OMG!

I sat at my usual spot on the table, far from him. My stomach kept turning for reasons that had nothing to do with morning my sickness this time. God, the silence was suffocating me.

Ace sat across from me, a few chairs down, eating like nothing happened. Like I hadn't just caught him inside another woman hours ago. Like I hadn't seen the way he made her moan and beg for more while he just stood there in complete control. I could still hear it—her cries, the slap of skin, his voice low and filthy in her ear. It kept looping in my head.

I was practically playing with the food on my plate. I wasn't even hungry, but I had to come down and eat. Otherwise, he'd probably send someone to drag me down. My throat was dry and my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Chapter 23