Prologue

A marriage was supposed to begin with love.

A promise.

A family blessing.

Maybe even two people dreaming about forever.

But theirs began with a contract.

Aarav Sharma had never imagined that the most important decision of his life would be made in a hospital corridor, with his father's life hanging in the balance and an unpaid medical bill sitting in his hands.

He had no money.

No influential friends.

No powerful surname.

Only a desperate determination to save the man who had spent his entire life protecting him.

And then she appeared.

Riya Rajvansh.

The woman everyone in Mumbai knew but very few dared to challenge.

Twenty-six years old. Brilliant. Ruthless. Beautiful enough to command attention and cold enough to make people forget how to breathe.

She didn't believe in love.

She believed in contracts.

Deals.

Power.

Control.

And when her father threatened to take control of the company away from her unless she married, Riya decided to solve the problem the same way she solved every other problem in her life.

With money.

She found Aarav.

A simple man from a traditional family who needed eighteen lakh rupees to save his father's life.

She offered him exactly what he needed.

In return, he would become her husband.

One year.

No love.

No expectations.

No interference.

At the end of twelve months, they would walk away as strangers again.

At least, that was the plan.

What neither of them understood was that some contracts were never meant to be followed.

Because somewhere between the fake smiles, forced appearances, late-night conversations and accidental touches...

Aarav would fall first.

Quietly.

Completely.

Hopelessly.

And the woman who had entered the marriage believing she could control every emotion would eventually discover the one thing she couldn't control—

how deeply she would love her husband.

But before they could find forever...

They would have to survive the contract.

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