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 sat still long after the door closed. I didn't move. Didn't blink. Just listened to the way his footsteps disappeared down the hallway until there was nothing but silence again.

That kind of silence that presses in on you, heavy and close. The kind that makes you feel like the walls are watching.

Why did he even come? What was that supposed to be? A check-in? Some weird attempt at small talk?

I rubbed my palms on my arms, trying to soothe them if I must say. My arms felt cold. My fingers were cold. Everything just felt... off.

"You're still taking your vitamins?"

He asked me like he cared. Like I hadn't watched him tear me down weeks ago. Like he didn't threaten to cut the only thing keeping my mother alive. And yet he stood in this room acting like I had a valid reason to even speak to him. Mtchewww

Chapter 27