Zara Monroe wasn’t looking for love or a lover. She wasn’t even looking for trouble—just one night to forget the weight of all her problems. Her broken family, her derailed dreams, the betrayal that left her trust in ruins. So when a man with piercing eyes and a voice like velvet sits next to her at the rooftop bar, she does something she never does—she lets go and moves on. No names. No expectations. Just chemistry, heat, and silence where the world usually screams. But nothing stays buried forever. When Zara walks into the headquarters of Thorne Enterprises a week later for a freelance photography assignment, the last person she expects to see is him. Robert Thorne—enigmatic billionaire, media tycoon, and the man who left her breathless and alone in a hotel suite. Cold, intelligent, calculating, and devastatingly powerful, Robert isn’t used to surprises. But Zara is no ordinary woman—and she’s about to challenge everything he thought he knew about control. As their paths entwine, secrets begin to rise and tension increases. Robert has skeletons he’s spent years locking away. And Zara? She’s carrying a truth of her own—one that could not only destroy their growing connection but upend Robert’s entire empire. And in the shadows, someone watches. Vivienne Blackwell, Robert’s former lover and the queen of polished vengeance, isn’t ready to let go of her power—or her obsession. With one hand in the media and the other on the trigger of every dirty secret Zara thought she’d buried, Vivienne is prepared to go to war. And this time, it’s not just business. It’s personal. In a world built on deception, desire, and ruthless ambition, Zara and Robert must decide: will they survive each other’s pasts—or burn in the fire of a passion that was never supposed to last?