I proposed to Maya Chen exactly forty-eight hours after I caught her sister riding my business rival in my own bed. The contract sat between us on the mahogany table in my office, three pages of legal terms that would bind her to me for one year. She stared at it like it might explode. "You want to marry me," she said slowly, "to make Victoria jealous." "Not just jealous." I leaned back in my leather chair, watching her process this. "I want to destroy her. And Marcus. Your sister ruined my engagement and tried to steal my company's AI algorithm. He's using her to get to me." Maya's dark eyes met mine. She was nothing like Victoria—where her sister was all designer clothes and calculated charm, Maya wore jeans and had paint under her fingernails. An art teacher. Twenty-three to Victoria's twenty-eight. Innocent. Perfect. "What do I get out of this?" she asked. "Two million dollars. Your father's medical bills paid in full. And the satisfaction of watching your sister realize she threw away a billionaire for a corporate snake." Her jaw tightened. Good. There was steel under that soft exterior. "Victoria called me yesterday," Maya said quietly. "Told me she's in love. That you were too cold, too focused on work. She said she finally found passion." "She found my competitor's bed and my company secrets. In that order." Maya flinched. "I don't want to be used as a weapon against my sister." "Then think of it as business. One year of your life. Public appearances. Some social media posts. We'll play the perfect couple—childhood friends who reconnected after my 'amicable split' with Victoria. The narrative practically writes itself." She bit her lip, and I forced myself not to stare. I'd barely noticed Maya at family dinners, always quiet in the corner while Victoria commanded every room. But sitting here now, I saw what I'd missed—intelligence in those eyes, strength in the set of her shoulders. "My father needs a transplant," she said. "The bills are over three hundred thousand." "I'll wire it today. Before you sign." "Why me? You could hire an actress. A model." "Because it will hurt Victoria more. Her little sister, the one she's always pitied, marrying the man she threw away. And because you're the only person in her life who might actually agree to this." Maya picked up the pen. Her hand trembled slightly. "One year," she said. "One year." She signed her name in careful script. The moment the ink dried, my phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number. I opened it. Went cold. It was a photo of Maya leaving her apartment this morning. The message below it read: "Touch her, and I'll destroy everything you love. She's not part of this game. —M" I looked up at Maya, who was gathering her things, completely unaware. Marcus had been watching her. Which meant this wasn't just about business anymore.