** @TheWattys 2025 Shortlister in Romance ** **A spicy enemies-to-lovers romance with a fake marriage contract trope.** To rescue her missing best friend, a lawyer must marry her arrogant boss, only to realize her entire life has been built on lies. Can be read as a Standalone. || Book 1 of Fatal Alliances Series ************ Sofia Reyes has fought her way to the top of New York's legal scene, hiding scars she can't fully remember. But just as she's about to claim the promotion for Junior Manager she's worked so hard for, her best friend, and her boss's fiancée, Kiara, disappears. This forces Sofia into a marriage she never asked for; an alliance bound by secrets, contracts, and survival. Xavier Kingston is everything she loathes: ruthless, cunning, and impossibly arrogant. Yet behind his cold, calculating exterior lies a hunger for something real, something neither of them dares to admit. As Sofia navigates their fake marriage, the line between duty and desire blurs dangerously. Their chemistry ignites, but the truths Sofia uncovers: about the law firm, Kiara's disappearance, and her own hidden past, threaten to destroy everything. In a world of billion-dollar deals, betrayals, and forbidden glances, love might just be the deadliest game of all. **Cover image by Freepik**

**Featured by @Wattpad in the Curated By You RL** **@HistoricalFiction Spotlight + Book of the Month Interview** ** @TheNanoWatt 2025 Fantasy Grandwinner!** **Featured and interviewed on @TeenFiction for the API Month** **Chosen to be mentored in @BootcampMentors** When Bridgerton meets Once upon a time in a compelling Standalone Historical Fantasy! _________________ During the 1920s, while escaping from his once-idyllic hamlet in rural India, Neil loses the only person who mattered to him. Rescued by a hunter, he molds himself into one of the best warriors of Cascadia. Impressed, the queen gives him a direct order to kill a traitor to the kingdom: the crowned prince, Dove. As a reward, he is offered a potion that would bring back his lover from the dead. Despite being the sole heir, Dove has been relegated to the role of a servant by his stepmother. Neil could not bring himself to complete the task when their paths crossed. So, they join forces, facing challenging quests to collect seven items required to make the potion. The only catch? They need to do so before the last shard of the mystical glass painting falls, as the potion would then expire. As the clock ticks, Neil is left to make a choice. Will he betray the young prince and become the hero of the kingdom, or try to complete an impossible task with the risk of facing a lifetime of cruelty in the dungeons? ________________ Second draft editing was done with the help of @eacomiskey. Please check out her works too! **I do not own the cover image. Credits to the very talented Mulan Jiang**