On the eve of the Oscars, America’s sweetheart Ava Lane is set up—fake affairs, fake “casting couch,” and a very real blacklist. The next morning, she wakes in tech-and-media titan Lucian Reed’s penthouse, wearing his shirt and holding a thirty-day contract marriage. The deal: he scrubs her reputation and runs PR triage; she helps him execute a precision corporate alliance. Everyone thinks they’re a cold-blooded × black-hearted power couple: On the red carpet, he drapes his jacket over her shoulders—cameras explode. On set, he’s the investor; she’s the targeted leading lady. In private, he coaches her through media warfare, then ices her sprained ankle and murmurs her calm. Jasper Shaw (childhood friend, A-list actor) flies home to back her. Sienna Hart (once a sister, now a rival) sets trap after trap. Jack Nolan (Oscar-winning director) drops a career-making script… As the truth unspools, Ava’s “scandal” traces back to a long-buried act of rescue—and Lucian’s frozen armor cracks because of her. In the final heartbeat on the red carpet, a microphone finds his lips. He looks at her and says, “This time, let me be your villain.”
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Chapter 1
I was the heroine of a web novel, and I was tied up with the second female lead.
The kidnappers wanted fifty million each, Jasper Shaw had only fifty million, he picked me.
I grinned like an idiot.
[The heroine is actually smiling, just wait, this fool will destroy you later to make it up to the other girl.]
I snapped my mouth shut and kicked the second lead toward Jasper.
“With my billing, why is her ransom the same as mine. I want a hundred million. I am not leaving without it.”
“Fifty million just hit your account, let her go,” Jasper said. His eyes flicked to me, then to Sienna Hart.
One kidnapper’s face fell.
“We said fifty million each, there are two of them, can you not count.”
Jasper’s eyes turned red. “That is all I have.”
The kidnapper snorted. “What is this, a farmers market where we haggle.”
“If you can only pay for one, pick one.”
Sienna’s tearful gaze dropped.
She knew she could not win with me standing here, I was the girl Jasper never got over, and she had been the stand-in at his side for three years.
Sure enough, he did not hesitate. “I choose Ava Lane.”
I started smiling again.
Two more lines flashed in front of me.
[Still smiling, are you planning to get back together the second you make it out. Just wait, he will torture you later to compensate the other girl.]
[He only loves the dead, he will love you again after you are gone. You lose a life, he loses a love story, what a bargain.]
I shut my mouth and kicked Sienna toward Jasper again.
“With my billing, why is her ransom the same as mine. I want a hundred million. I am not leaving without it.”
I glared at the kidnappers. “And why is her bag the same color as mine.”
The kidnapper gave me the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look.
“Ma’am, this is not a red carpet or the Oscars, this is a kidnapping, you and her are the ones being taken.”
That only made me angrier. “Why did you say her name before mine.”
I inched toward the middle of the group.
“Kidnapping or not, I am taking center stage.”
Everyone froze.
Even the comment stream paused.
[Haha the heroine’s chaos is beautiful, Queen Ava deserves the spotlight.]
[If ransom were paid in brain cells, she would cover you ten times.]
Sienna, who had been crying prettily in Jasper’s arms, stopped cold and stared at me.
“Ava, this is not the time to fuss about placement,” Jasper said. “If you do not leave with me now, they will kill you.”
“Kill me.”
That was when I finally started to panic.
Chapter 2
“Won’t the medical examiner have to take photos.”
I shook my head so hard my bangs fell just right. Two tears slipped out.
“Then my last photo had better be the kind that breaks the internet.”
The room went still.
Only I knew those tears were real.
Inside, I was bawling.
Please tell me they were not actually going to kill me.
Jasper tried to bargain with me. Even the kidnapper joined in.
“Ma’am, fifty million is no joke. That’s A-list money here. You’re not exactly trending, asking for a hundred million is shooting for the moon. I’ve done this for years, trust me.”
I held my head high and would not budge a cent.
Jasper gave up and left with Sienna.
They hauled me back to the van.
The guy in the passenger seat bit down on his cigarette and glanced back at me.
“Man, is showbiz really that rough. She seems off. We’ve grabbed a lot of people, never seen anyone ask us to raise the price. What do we do with her now.”
The driver stayed quiet a long time, tapped ash out the window.
“Sell her. She isn’t famous, but that face will fetch something.”
I covered my mouth and tried to cry quietly.
Great. As if being kidnapped wasn’t enough, now even the kidnappers had to call me irrelevant.
The van drove forever. Then they dragged me out.
There was a hard thud when I hit the floor. Pain shot up my side.
“Lucian, take a look. She’s in good shape, and she’s a star, very popular.”
Please. Five minutes ago they were calling me a nobody.
The man they called Lucian sat at the head of the room, long legs crossed.
The light carved shadows along his cheekbones. He was the kind of handsome you had to look away from.
His gaze landed on my face, something dark flickering in his eyes.
“How much.”
“Forty million.”
Why was the number going down.
Lucian’s eyes cooled.
I opened my mouth to talk and the kidnapper clamped my jaw shut.
He whispered at my ear. “Don’t you dare mess this up for me.”
Then he looked up with a grin. “We can knock off three or five million.”
Chapter 3
Lucian came over and crouched in front of me. He tipped my chin up and looked me over, then let out a soft laugh.
He stood, bored.
The kidnapper panicked. “Thirty million, rock bottom, Lucian.”
Lucian finally glanced his way with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“You think I, Lucian Reed, am short a million.”
“Forty million, and you keep today buried. If a single word leaks, you can kiss this beautiful world goodbye.”
The kidnapper bobbed his head. “Got it, got it.”
My heart slammed. He had raised the price himself and wanted the sale kept quiet.
That sounded like a death sentence.
Everyone cleared out. Only the two of us were left.
He crouched beside me again, amused, and traced a slow line over my brow, my cheek, my jaw with those long fingers.
I trembled. “If you try anything, I will…”
He leaned in. “You will what.”
The live comments floated up.
[Girl, grab his thigh. He looks like a cold villain, but he’s secretly a boy scout. Sleep with him, he’ll hand you his life.]
Staring at that chiseled face, I felt my cheeks go hot.
“I, I might turn into the sunniest girl alive.”
Sure enough, color shot up his neck.
He pulled his hand back and put distance between us. “Forget it, I am not in the mood today.”
I wanted to live, so I went all in.
He tried to retreat, I chased. He had nowhere to go.
I popped up and kissed him.
His mouth was softer than I expected, carrying a clean pine scent from his skin.
Those amber eyes went wide.
He shoved me away, ears red as cherries, one hand over his mouth.
“Ava, are you out of your mind.”
The comments went wild.
[Hahaha queen move.]
[Lucian, don’t cover your mouth, it makes you look even more precious.]
He paced the floor like it was hot to the touch, as if mourning a stolen first kiss.
I had never forced a kiss on anyone before and felt a little guilty. “First kiss. Relax, I’ll take responsibility.”
He charged back to me.
“First kiss. Ava, did you forget the time you stole one already.”
Already.
There was a last time.
I blinked. “Lucian, today is the first time we met, right.”
He yanked out my phone, unlocked it with my face, and punched in his number.
“First time. You’re kidding me. Who begged me for my contact at that gala, who asked me for a chance in the new film I invested in, who got drunk and kissed me after I turned her down and…”
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