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.

Ma and Mabel had just left, and the house felt too quiet again.


I stood by the window for a while after the car drove off, hugging myself like I was trying to keep their warmth a little longer. I hadn't cried this much in a long time. Not because I was sad—but because I'd missed them so damn much it hurt. And because Ace… he did that for me. He brought them here.


I didn't know what the hell he was trying to prove lately. First the hospital. Then the way he's been so soft. And now this?


I wiped my face, told myself to pull it together, and headed out of the room.


The hallway was quiet, as always. That expensive, weird silence this place carried. I turned toward his wing, hesitating a little. I wasn't even sure what I was going to say. "Thanks for bringing my family over"? It felt too small. And formal by the way, plus the way we left things… with that awkward tension in the air after our talk, the laugh, that weird… thing between us lately…


Chapter 53 - Chapter 53