Beneath the billonaire's gaze
Hana never planned to fall into the world of Kang Jae-Hyun.
She was just a struggling young woman trying to support her family when a single mistake brought her face-to-face with Seoul's coldest and most powerful CEO. What began as a contract - a fake engagement meant to satisfy a ruthless family and protect a fragile empire - quickly turns into something far more dangerous.
Behind Jae-Hyun's flawless image lies grief, pressure, and a heart he locked away long ago. Behind Hana's warm smile is quiet resilience and scars she never talks about.
As secrets surface, enemies close in, and the line between pretend and real begins to blur, Hana must decide:
Was this relationship ever just business - or was it always fate?
A slow-burn romance filled with tension, secrets, and a love that wasn't supposed to happen.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 5
The silence inside the elevator was unbearable.
Lee Hana stood rigidly near the corner, her eyes fixed on the glowing floor numbers as they climbed higher—sixteen… seventeen… eighteen.
Beside her, Kang Jae-Hyun stood like a carved statue. Arms crossed. Expression unreadable. Not a single word since they stepped in.
“So…” Hana cleared her throat, desperate to break the tension. “This elevator is really fast.”
No response.
She tried again. “I think it’s racing my heartbeat.”
Still nothing.
She glanced sideways.
He was staring straight ahead, jaw tight, as if conversation itself offended him.
Awkward.
Ding.
The doors slid open onto the executive floor.
“Follow me,” he said curtly, stepping out.
“Yes, sir.”
The hallway was sleek and intimidatingly quiet, lined with glass walls and abstract art. Hana’s heels echoed as they stopped in front of a large office.
“This is your desk,” Jae-Hyun said, gesturing to a minimalist workstation just outside his office. “You don’t touch my personal files. You don’t change my schedule without approval. And you speak only when necessary.”
“…Understood.”
“And don’t spill coffee on me again.”
She blinked. “You’re still holding onto that?”
His eyes flicked to her. “Just don’t.”
She muttered, “Copy that, Ice—”
“Excuse me?”
“—nice office,” she said quickly. “Very… icy. I mean elegant.”
He stared at her for a moment, then turned and shut his office door.
Hana slumped into her chair.
“This is going to be a long month.”
Her desk was spotless. Expensive monitor. No personal items. It felt more like a test station than a workspace.
Her phone buzzed.
Minji: You’re alive?? What’s he like?
Hana: Cold. Rich. Terrifying.
Minji: You okay??
Hana: I think so. Pray for me.
Before she could type more—
“Miss Lee.”
She jumped to her feet. “Yes, sir!”
Jae-Hyun handed her a file. “Scan, organize, and forward these to the board secretary. Thirty minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
Her fingers brushed his briefly.
Both froze.
He pulled back first. “And don’t stare.”
“I wasn’t!”
One eyebrow lifted. Then he disappeared back into his office.
She exhaled. “Focus. Survive.”
At noon, a call came through.
“CEO’s office. Lee Hana speaking.”
“Is Jae-Hyun available?”
The voice was female. Cool. Sharp.
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“Yoo Mi-Ran.”
Hana stiffened. The ex-fiancée.
She knocked lightly on Jae-Hyun’s door.
“Come in.”
“Miss Yoo Mi-Ran is on the line.”
His expression darkened. “Tell her I’m unavailable.”
The call ended seconds later—with an icy warning.
Hana stared at the phone.
“…Noted.”
Later, during lunch, a man dropped into the seat across from her.
“You look traumatized,” he said cheerfully. “First day?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“I’m Soo-Jin. HR.”
“Hana. Professional coffee spiller.”
He laughed. “You’ll fit in just fine.”
The afternoon meeting was brutal.
Executives. Numbers. Pressure.
At one point—
“Miss Lee,” Jae-Hyun said calmly, “what’s the projected budget difference on the SeoMin deal?”
Her heart stopped.
“…I’m not sure.”
He nodded. “Correct. You’re not expected to be.”
A ripple of laughter passed the table.
Afterward, he spoke quietly as they walked back.
“You held your composure.”
“Barely.”
“Still counts.”
Her heart skipped. Praise?
Near closing time, Mi-Ran appeared outside the office, her gaze sharp.
“So you’re the new secretary,” she said sweetly. “Be careful. Jae-Hyun doesn’t like distractions.”
Hana met her eyes calmly. “I’m just doing my job.”
Mi-Ran smiled thinly. “We’ll see.”
That evening, Hana returned to her desk exhausted but upright.
Jae-Hyun passed by, pausing briefly.
“You did better than expected.”
She looked up. “Thank you.”
“Don’t get comfortable.”
She smiled faintly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
As he walked away, Hana whispered to herself—
“This world is terrifying… but I’m not backing down.”
You may also like
9.7
Luna Elena Frost was never chosen, only assigned.
Bound to Alpha Alaric Ashbourne through a cold contractual marriage, she endures three years as a Luna in name only. He never comes home, never defends her, and never looks at her, while his heart belongs to another woman.
At his grandmother's funeral, Alaric publicly dissolves their marriage, humiliating Elena before the entire pack. In that moment, she finally understands the truth. She was never wanted.
But the Moon has not abandoned her.
A forgotten night resurfaces. Her long-silent wolf begins to awaken. And secrets buried within her bloodline start to surface, drawing danger from every direction.
Cast out by the pack that once used her, Elena must flee, survive, and uncover her true power.
Only then does the Alpha realize his mistake.
By the time he turns back in regret, the Luna he rejected may already be gone forever.
9.7
"Be my wife for eight months and I will save you from this hell. But if you fall in love with me? I will destroy you."
She wasn't sold for a price. She was lost in a bet.
A dark deal made in the shadows between a father who sold his own daughter without thinking twice and the man who runs the Blackwood empire. The CEO who doesn't just own money. He owns the city. He owns the law. He owns the men and their fates.
She was just a normal designer until she became his wife on paper. A wife to a man who knows no mercy. A man who never loses a deal. A man who refuses to let the woman carrying his name be weak.
Eight months. A marriage with no love. Strict rules. Forbidden feelings.
But what happens when the deal turns into a deep hunger? What happens when the contract becomes a cage? What happens when she finds out that running away from her father put her in the trap of a man who is a thousand times more dangerous?
Her father sold her in a bet. And her only escape was the man who owns the city.
8.4
Twenty-four-year-old Rain Hart has fought to be seen all her life. Getting admitted into the prestigious Katherine Knight Fashion Academy with nothing but talent was a sign to her that things were finally falling into place in her life... until she encountered Adrian Knight, the billionaire CEO. She never planned to fall for the most dangerous man in it.
Adrian Knight is power, control, and temptation wrapped in a suit, and completely off-limits. He is everything Rain should avoid: married, connected to the Academy. But stolen glances turn into secret meetings, and before Rain can stop herself, she's trapped in an affair that could destroy them both.
Because Adrian doesn't belong to her. He belongs to a world built on dominance, legacy... and ruthless women who don't lose. When their secret explodes, it doesn't just trend...
It detonates. The headlines are merciless. The academy turns toxic. Jealous rivals circle like vultures. Then a blackmailer ends up dead. Adrian is arrested for murder. And Rain becomes the girl everyone loves to hate.
But the scandal isn't the most dangerous thing lurking in the shadows.
It's the truth.
A truth so devastating it shatters everything Rain thought she knew about love, loyalty... and herself.
Now pregnant, hunted by the press, betrayed by the powerful, and drowning in a world where trust is a weapon... Rain runs.
But in the Knight empire, power doesn't forgive. Jealousy doesn't forget. Survival comes at a price. And some secrets?
They should never be uncovered.
7.1
They ruined her face. Stole her child. Now she's back-and nothing will stop her.
Five years ago, Raina Carrington lost everything: her beauty, her family, and her newborn baby.
Now she's returned-unrecognizable, unbreakable, and with one goal in mind: to find her son and make them pay. But revenge is never simple, especially when it draws the attention of Leif Vexley-the most powerful and dangerous man in the city-who just might hold the key to her child's past.
Yet she's not the victim anymore.
She's the storm-and she's ready to strike.
8.7
I was trapped in a greasy diner by my own mother.
She was forcing me to marry my abusive cousin because he had paid her twenty thousand dollars.
To escape, I used a contract marriage app and begged a complete stranger to marry me at City Hall that very day.
Ethan drove a cheap Ford and wore a plain suit. I thought he was just an ordinary guy needing a fake wife.
When my mother found out, she brought thugs to destroy my flower shop—my only home and livelihood.
To protect Ethan from her endless extortion, I shielded him and screamed that he was bankrupt and drowning in credit card debt.
My mother fled in disgust, and Ethan took me into his apartment for the night.
But out of trauma and habit, I locked my bedroom door, muttering that he must be old and desperate.
He stormed out into the freezing night, leaving me terrified that I had ruined my only lifeline.
I didn't understand why he was so furiously offended, completely unaware that my "broke" husband was actually the most ruthless billionaire in New York, and I had just trampled his massive ego.
The next morning, his face was a mask of ice as he dragged me back to City Hall to annul the marriage and get rid of me.
"Annulment. Now," he demanded.
But the clerk just popped her gum and slid a pink paper across the counter.
"State law changed. Mandatory thirty-day cooling-off period."
7.8
Warning : This book is filthy, addictive, and dangerously addictive.
Once you start... you won't want to stop.
NAUGHTY DESIRES - because some cravings are too wicked to resist.
In the velvet darkness where pleasure and pain entwine, surrender is the only choice.
A dominant stranger pins you beneath him on a bed of crimson rose petals, his hand wrapped possessively around your throat as your body trembles in helpless ecstasy. A ruthless billionaire demands your complete submission in a candlelit penthouse, turning your whispered "no" into a breathless "more." A dangerous lover drags you into the shadows, where every touch brands you, every command unravels you, and every climax leaves you aching for the next forbidden taste.
These scorching stories plunge deep into the rawest, darkest corners of desire-where powerful men take what they crave and willing women beg to be taken. No limits. No mercy. Only raw, dripping, heart-pounding heat that will ruin you for anything tame.