Chapter One: The Unexpected Encounter
Amara Johnson hated Hollywood parties. She wasn't supposed to be there at all—she was a book editor, more comfortable with manuscripts and coffee stains than designer gowns and champagne flutes. But when her best friend dragged her along, insisting she "needed to live a little," Amara found herself lost in a mansion that looked like it belonged in a movie.
She didn't notice the man until she crashed right into his chest. Hard.
Her clutch slipped from her fingers, her phone clattered to the marble floor, and she blurted out, "Oh God, I'm so sorry—" before looking up.
And then, her apology froze on her lips.
Because standing in front of her, in a perfectly tailored tuxedo and with eyes so piercing they could melt steel, was Ethan Knight. The Ethan Knight—Hollywood's reigning movie star, the billionaire heartthrob whose face was plastered on billboards from Los Angeles to Lagos.
The man who never gave interviews.
The man who had just been accused of cheating on his co-star in every gossip column in America.
"Careful," Ethan's voice was smooth, carrying that effortless authority that made millions pay to watch him on screen. His hand steadied her elbow just long enough to make her pulse stumble. "You might get hurt if you're not watching where you're going."
Amara swallowed, mortified. "I—I didn't see you."
A smirk tugged at his lips, though his eyes looked tired, shadowed. "That's a first. People usually trip over themselves trying to be seen."
Heat rushed to her cheeks. She bent quickly to pick up her phone, desperate to escape, when she heard him say—low, almost amused—
"Wait. What's your name?"
And that was how Amara Johnson's life changed—with a single question from the movie star billionaire she never dreamed she'd marry.