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 couldn't sleep. I didn't even bother trying. The moment Hazel stormed out of the hallway earlier, something inside me snapped.

I sat at the edge of my bed, elbows on my knees, my fingers digging into my temples like they could crush the thoughts inside. The room was too cold.

That shouldn't bother me. But it did.

I stood and paced, shirtless, the cold floor doing nothing to ground me. I ran a hand through my hair, restless. All day, I had been flipping through files, emails, transaction reports. Something wasn't adding up. Some contract signed six months ago kept popping up with a name that didn't belong—Travis Dorne.

That name—it rang a bell, but faint. Old grudge? Ex-employee?

I pulled out my phone and called June, waking her up at God-knows-what hour.

"I need you to dig into all deals involving Travis Dorne. Six months back till now. Anything shady, anything odd—I want to know."

Chapter 45