Chapter 1 The Stranger Who Knew Her
The man knew her name before she had a chance to speak it.
“Ms. Hart.”
The words were low, deliberate, but they struck her spine like ice. She froze, the pen in her hand tightening until the knuckles whitened.
Mila stood behind the counter of her small, dimly lit bookstore, one hand resting on a stack of dog-eared novels, the other fidgeting uselessly with a pen she had no intention of using. The shop was unusually silent, no soft jazz in the background, no murmurs of customers. Just the steady hum of the ceiling fan and the rhythmic tapping of rain against the glass windows.
Her instincts screamed. People who knew her name without being told were rarely harmless.
“Yes?” she said, finally, her voice measured but wary.
The man stepped further into the shop, and the bell above the door rang sharply, a sound that felt more like a judgment than a greeting. He moved with the ease of someone who never needed to rush, each step deliberate, controlled.
He was tall. Not overly so, but tall enough that the space around him seemed to shrink. His coat was dark, impeccably cut; his hair perfectly neat, his face sharp yet unreadable. His eyes… Mila’s pulse jumped. His eyes observed too much, too quickly, like they could strip secrets from the walls themselves.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said, his tone polite but edged with authority.
Mila glanced around the empty store. “No. You’re not.”
He nodded, as though he had anticipated that answer. Silence stretched between them. Mila waited for him to browse the shelves, ask for a book, anything remotely normal. But he didn’t. He only looked at her, and for the first time in years, she felt completely exposed.
“I’m Ethan Cole,” he said, his voice calm, steady.
The name meant nothing to her, yet it reverberated in her chest as though it should.
“And I need your help.”
Her fingers tightened around the pen. “With what?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped closer, stopping just short of the counter. The faint scent of rain clung to him, mingling with something sharp, clean, and unmistakably expensive.
“I’ll be direct,” he said. “I don’t like wasting time.”
“I don’t like surprises,” Mila shot back, her heart racing.
A flicker moved across his mouth, not quite a smile, but close enough to make her uneasy. “Then we already understand each other.”
Her unease deepened.
He reached into his coat and laid a thin folder on the counter. It landed softly, but in the oppressive silence of the shop, it felt like a thunderclap.
“I need to get married,” he said.
The words hung in the air like a challenge. Mila blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“To you,” he added, calm as if announcing the weather.
Her breath caught. A short, incredulous laugh escaped before she could stop it. “You’re in the wrong place.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not.”
She stepped back. “I don’t know who you think I am, but....”
“I know exactly who you are,” he interrupted.
Her laughter died in her throat.
“I know you opened this shop four years ago,” he continued. “I know it barely breaks even. I know you pay rent late, but always in full. You don’t own a car. And you avoid being photographed at all costs.”
Her heart hammered. “A lot of people don’t like being photographed.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But not everyone changes their last name and disappears entirely.”
Her hand slipped from the pen. The counter felt impossibly heavy under her palm.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.
“And yet, here I am.”
He didn’t sound threatening. That made her chest tighten further.
Ethan straightened his cuffs with deliberate precision. “This marriage would be legal. Public. Temporary.”
“No,” she said immediately. “Absolutely not.”
He didn’t argue. “That’s your answer?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, as if confirming what he already knew. Then, without waiting for permission, he pulled the chair across from the counter and sat. Calm. Unmoving. Unyielding.
“I assumed you would say that,” he said, his voice a soft, dangerous drawl.
Her pulse raced. “You can’t just sit there.”
“I can,” he replied simply.
Mila folded her arms across her chest, a futile shield. “You should leave.”
“In a moment.”
The thunder outside rolled low and ominous. Silence fell again.
“I am not offering romance,” he said after a pause. “Or affection. Or anything you would owe me emotionally.”
“I’m not interested,” she said firmly.
“I am offering safety,” he said.
The word slipped past her defenses, igniting something she hadn’t felt in years.
“You don’t know what I need,” she whispered.
“I do,” he said, eyes unblinking. “I know you lock this door three times every night. I know you flinch at raised voices. And I know you chose this shop because it has a single, controllable entrance.”
Her legs went weak.
“How long have you been… watching me?” she asked.
“Long enough to be certain I wasn’t wrong.”
“This is insane,” she muttered.
“Perhaps,” he said. “But it is also simple.”
He slid the folder toward her. “One year. You live in my house. You have access to everything you need. No one touches you without your permission. No one looks for you unless I say so.”
Her fingers hovered over the folder, trembling.
“And after one year?” she asked, barely daring to breathe.
“You walk away.”
She opened the folder. The numbers inside made her head spin—enough to pay off debts, secure her sister’s future, and finally feel free.
“Why me?” she asked, her voice tight.
He paused. “Because you don’t want me. And I need someone who won’t.”
The rain outside intensified.
Mila closed the folder slowly, as though the motion could slow her racing heart.
“What if I disappear again?” she whispered.
“Then I will find you,” he said. Not a threat. A promise.
Her chest tightened. The folder pressed against her hands like a lifeline.
“I need time,” she said.
“Take tonight,” he replied. “I’ll return tomorrow.”
He paused at the door. “One more thing,” he added.
She looked up at him. Her stomach clenched.
“If you accept,” he said, “there is something you should know.”
Her pulse spiked. “What?”
His eyes darkened. “My enemies won’t care that this marriage is fake.”
The bell rang sharply as he left.
Mila stared at the closed door, hands trembling, folder pressed to her chest.
Outside, thunder cracked violently.
For the first time in years, she wondered if saying yes would save her or condemn her to even greater danger.