This story is entirely fictional. All characters, events, and relationships are fake and created for storytelling purposes only.
Heeseung is twenty-six, a powerful CEO, and a single father whose world begins and ends with his son. After a painful divorce from a woman who only wanted his money, he no longer believes in love-only in control, contracts, and responsibility.
Jake is twenty-four, a café owner who still believes love is real, even when life makes it complicated. Kind but not naïve, gentle but never weak, he knows his worth and refuses to be treated as disposable.
When their fathers-best friends bound by old promises-force them into an arranged marriage, neither man is ready.
One sees marriage as a transaction.
The other sees it as a chance.
Between cold walls, legal obligations, and a child watching quietly from the sidelines, two men must learn how to coexist without pretending, protect without possession, and decide whether a marriage signed without love can become something real.
All of this is fiction NOTHING IS REAL.
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When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time.
*****
Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears.
[[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]
Cover designed by Holly Thurston