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.

 If I had, I might've said something I'd regret. Or worse—something honest.


 The second I stepped out of the library, I shut the door behind me and leaned my back against it, squeezing the damn book in my hand like I wanted to crush it. Like I could crush the past if I just gripped hard enough.


 I thought I had gotten rid of it. Or maybe I just forgot it existed. Or maybe a part of me didn't want to destroy it, and this is what I get for hesitating.


 I pushed off the door and walked straight to the restricted room. The one I told her not to go near. The one I swore to myself I'd keep locked from now on. My fingers trembled around the key. Stupid. I never tremble.


 I locked the door behind me and tossed the diary down on the desk.


Chapter 62 - Chapter 62