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

"He did what?" Mabel's voice cracked through the speaker just as I was reaching for the bottle of water beside the bed.

Except… she wasn't there. The call hadn't connected. My screen was blank. No signal.

I blinked at the phone, tried again, but no response. Ugh. Whatever. I dropped it on the bed and dragged myself up. I was exhausted, but my throat was dry, and my head was spinning a bit. The AC in the room had made everything feel tight and cold. I needed air. Something. Anything.

So, I left the room, slowly. The halls were quiet. No maids bustling around, no distant piano music, no echoes of Ace's voice barking orders into a phone. Just silence.

I reached the bottom of the stairs, eyes still half-lidded with sleep when a maid—one I hadn't seen much—showed up from the left hallway.

"Miss Hazel?" she said, a little too chirpy for how early it was. "There's a little surprise downstairs for you. In the front lounge."

Chapter 50