The Billionaire's Temporary Bride by Celeste Heartswell

Length: 14,800 words

Ambitious event planner Isabella Moreau stands on the brink of financial ruin when her biggest client withdraws, threatening the business she built from nothing. In a calculated move for survival, she enters a six-month fake marriage with reclusive tech billionaire Darien Callwell, who requires a wife to satisfy his traditional board and secure a career-defining merger. Bound by strict terms—no emotional entanglements, separate bedrooms, and affection reserved solely for public eyes—their arrangement is meant to be cold and temporary.

Yet as they navigate high-society galas, shared living quarters, and staged moments of intimacy, undeniable chemistry ignites between them. Isabella’s sharp wit clashes with Darien’s commanding presence, slowly exposing vulnerabilities: her deep-seated fear of failure and his profound trust issues rooted in past betrayals. What begins as performative romance stirs genuine passion, challenging their emotional walls and blurring the lines of their contract.

In this seductive contemporary tale of power dynamics and forbidden connection, pretense collides with raw desire. As external threats loom over their facade, Isabella and Darien must confront whether their temporary union is merely a business deal or the foundation for something deeper and irrevocably real. Will they uphold the boundaries or surrender to the intense pull drawing them together?