Lena Voss had everything respect, a thriving PR career, and a future with the man she loved until one night shattered it all. Publicly humiliated when her fiancé ended their engagement before a room full of elites, she woke the next day fired over a scandal she didn’t cause. Overnight, her name became toxic, her career destroyed, and her savings gone. She lost her job, her dignity, and her future.

But someone was watching.

Nathaniel Cross, billionaire CEO of Cross Enterprises feared in boardrooms and untouchable by society was present the night she fell. A man of ice, power, and precise control, Nathaniel doesn’t believe in coincidence. He sees opportunity. And when Lena, desperate and furious, storms into his office begging for a chance to salvage her career, he makes an offer that changes everything.

Not employment.
A contract.
A proposal.

He wants her as his fiancée.

It’s not love. It’s strategy. Nathaniel is negotiating a billion-dollar merger and needs the perfect woman by his side to silence rumors, soothe shareholders, and present the image of a settled, committed man. A flawless public act. And the woman he chooses is the one already ruined Lena Voss, who has nothing left to lose.

Outraged yet cornered, Lena faces an impossible choice: reject him and watch her world collapse completely, or sign away her freedom for survival. She signs. And the game begins.

Thrown into a ruthless world of galas, flashing cameras, and whispered judgment, Lena is scrutinized at every turn. Every smile must be perfect. Every word must be calculated. One misstep could destroy them both. But the real threat isn’t the press it’s Nathaniel himself. Impossibly controlled, dangerously magnetic, he blurs the line between performance and something far darker. Every staged touch ignites a spark. Every choreographed kiss threatens the boundaries of their deal.

Yet Nathaniel Cross has enemies.

Chief among them is Isabella Rhodes, a socialite from his past who refuses to be forgotten. Poised, venomous, and armed with secrets, Isabella views Lena as nothing more than a placeholder a disposable pawn occupying the throne she still believes is hers. And Isabella will scorch the world to see Lena fall again.

But Lena is no longer the broken woman from her engagement night. This time, she fights back. She learns to navigate power, to stand in rooms meant to shame her, to meet every insult with a colder smile. She becomes exactly what Nathaniel wanted a flawless partner. But in becoming it, she becomes something he never anticipated… irreplaceable.

What Lena doesn’t know is that the true danger lies in the contract itself. Nathaniel’s calculated world was built on betrayal, and his rules are clear: never trust, never love, never succumb. She was supposed to be a pawn. Instead, she becomes his weakness an obsession he cannot control.

And obsession is deadly.

As alliances shift and secrets surface, Lena discovers that in Nathaniel’s empire, power comes with a cost. Every victory extracts a sacrifice. Every touch hides a truth. The higher they climb, the more fragile their bond becomes.

Because when the final betrayal comes and it will it won’t come from their enemies.

It will come from each other.

“Seduction by Contract” is a battle of hearts disguised as a business deal a collision of pride, desire, and power set against billion-dollar stakes and unforgiving social wars. It is the story of a woman who signed her name to save her future… and a man who believed he could control the fire he lit.

She thought she was surrendering.
He thought he was in control.
Neither was prepared for the price of pretending.

In a game built on lies, what happens when the passion becomes real?

The hospital corridor turned into a warzone of flashes and voices. Cameras shoved forward, microphones jammed inches from Lena's face.


"Lena Voss did you rig the contract with Cross Global?"


Her vision blurred under the strobe of bulbs, but she forced her chin higher. If she faltered here, she was finished.


Nathaniel pushed through the swarm, his security detail forming a shaky wall. But the questions only grew sharper, louder blood in the water and the sharks could smell it.


"Sources say you orchestrated the failed merger. Care to comment?"


"Is it true you're under investigation for fraud?"


"Were you lovers with Nathaniel Cross?"


That one cut deeper than the rest. Lena's pulse jumped, but she didn't give them the satisfaction of flinching.


Adrian stood just inside the doorway, smirking like a puppeteer watching his strings tighten. He didn't need to speak he'd already unleashed the mob.


"Back off," Nathaniel snapped at a reporter, voice sharp enough to cut steel. His hand brushed Lena's arm, guiding her toward the elevator. Cameras caught it instantly. Another headline born.


Lena stopped moving. If she let Nathaniel pull her away, she'd look weak, cornered. Guilty.


"No," she said, voice slicing through the chaos. Her eyes locked on the crowd. "You want a statement? Here it is."


"I didn't sabotage anything. I didn't sell out my company. And if Adrian Kane wants to accuse me" her gaze cut to him like a blade, "he can stop hiding behind leaks and lies, and face me in a boardroom or a courtroom. Not like this."


The reporters roared, questions overlapping. Adrian's smirk faltered just slightly, but enough.


Lena turned her back to the cameras, stepping into the elevator with Nathaniel at her side. The doors slid shut. Silence crashed down.


"You just painted a target on yourself," Nathaniel said quietly.


"I already had one," Lena shot back. "At least now, everyone can see it."


But as the elevator descended, her phone buzzed. A new headline notification burned on the screen:


"Insider Confirms Lena Voss Betrayed by Her Closest Ally—Exclusive Interview with Isabella Rhodes Tonight."


Her stomach dropped, the ambush wasn't over. It was just beginning.


Chapter 15 - Trial by Headlines