"Sign the paper, Maya. It’s the most money a girl like you will ever see."
Maya thought old Mr. Sterling was just the kindest regular at her diner—a man who liked his coffee black and his eggs over-easy. She didn’t know he was the patriarch of a billion-dollar empire. And she certainly didn't know that his final wish was for his ruthless, ice-veined son, Reid Sterling, to marry her.
To Reid, Maya is a calculating grifter who "charmed" a dying old man into a payday. To Maya, Reid is a silver-spooned prick who wouldn't know a hard day's work if it hit him in his custom-tailored chest.
The Deal: One year of marriage. Five million dollars. No touching. No feelings.
But as Maya is pulled into a world of vultures in silk suits, she realizes the Sterling family secrets are deadlier than the debt she’s trying to escape. And Reid? He’s beginning to realize that the "gold-digger" he hates is the only person who actually sees the man behind the money.
"You’re just a clause in a contract, Maya. Don't forget that."
"Trust me, Reid. For five million dollars, I can forget you even exist."

The air in the Brooklyn morning was thick with the scent of saltwater and ozone, a premonition of the storm that was brewing over the East River. I hadn't slept more than two hours. My skin felt tight, my eyes burning with the ghost of the Dubai video that had played on a loop in my mind all night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Reid—younger, desperate, and trapped—leaning over a blueprint with Julianne Vane. I saw the way her hands moved over his, a partnership built on a debt I was still paying.


Chapter 54 - Chapter 54: The Hostile Takeover