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

I needed to get out. The air was thick with her defiance, and honestly, I didn't trust myself to see her again last night. Not after the way she threw that fit, like a child slamming doors. It was better this way.

The office was cold. I liked it that way.

Routine meetings. Back-to-back calls. Paperwork. My phone buzzed constantly, but I didn't care—until Kai called.

"Sir," he said, voice tight. "We have a situation."

I leaned back in my chair. "Talk."

"It's the girl. Hazel. She tried to escape this morning."

I've never met someone this stubborn and hard-headed.

"She was caught before she reached the second perimeter. The cameras picked her up near the east wing. Guards stopped her before she even got to the blind spot."

I scoffed. Not because it wasn't serious. It was. But because I honestly didn't expect it so soon.

Chapter 24