After the Gala, I Accidentally Married the Heir
Synopsis:In the harbor town of Seabrook, the year’s biggest event unfolds at the Seaside Aquarium. After the glitter fades, a VIP goes over the rail and into the water; the media swarm, the stock price plummets, and the Hart family teeters on the edge. Jenna Quinn, a fundraiser at the aquarium, is ready to turn in her resignation—until she stumbles onto the only move that might calm the storm: a fake marriage, real shield with the night’s lightning rod, newly minted heir Calvin Hart.On day one of the marriage, the hallway at Maple Court Apartments is already buzzing. On day two, police haul up a low-tide clue that points straight at the Hart estate. On day three, little neighbor Lulu’s crayon drawing shows “a monster in the sea” with a vintage diver’s watch dangling from its tentacle. A tampered will, holes in the accounts, camera blind spots, whispers of a locked room… Jenna uses nerve and common sense to sweep up the shards of truth, while Calvin uses access—and sacrifice—to pry open doors sealed shut by “respectability.” Marriage first, love later; bound first, sweet later. Under a town’s voyeuristic gaze, they rise from contract partners to each other’s armor—until the “least likely killer” steps into the light and the crash of a collapsing façade roars like the tide.Chapter OneAfter ten years of trying for a baby and a brutal nine months, Jenna Quinn finally saw a sliver of light.As her daughter was about to hit the three-month mark, her husband died without warning.Ten years after the divorce, her ex-husband showed up at her door.She walked a guest out, opened the door, and there was Calvin Hart standing on the threshold, caught between coming in and backing away.For a second, time turned into a blade and went straight through Jenna’s chest.She saw the guest off in a haze, let Calvin in the same haze, and only when he said her name three or four times did she come back to herself.“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice flat.It had been almost ten years since the day they split. They had not seen each other once.“You changed your number, I couldn’t reach you, so I went by Maple Court Apartments and heard you’d sold the place, then I tracked down the community office and they gave me this address,” Calvin said, words tumbling out while Jenna listened, expressionless.“Did something happen?” he asked, catching the crack in her composure.Jenna looked at him. “Why are you here?”She meant to hold it together, but the question left her mouth and the tears followed.Calvin reached for the tissues, the box was empty. He pulled open the drawer under the coffee table without thinking, found a fresh pack, tore it open, and handed her two sheets.Watching the way he moved, Jenna felt the hole in her chest tear wider.Ten years, and he still remembered her habits.“Jenna, don’t cry. What happened?” Calvin sounded rattled.She couldn’t speak. She just cried.A baby’s wail came from the bedroom.Like a switch thrown, she stopped at once, sprang up from the couch, and hurried down the hall.Calvin waited a beat, then, against his better judgment, followed her.On the bed lay a perfect little girl, fast asleep. Jenna watched her, love filling the room around the child.Calvin stared for a long moment. “She looks just like Lulu did when she was little,” he murmured, almost to himself.The words snapped Jenna out of it. She looked at Calvin as if only then remembering someone else was in the room, and her eyes went red again.“Her name is Lulu too,” she said, voice tight.
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