From Lies to Love: My Rival Husband
She needed a husband. He needed a wife. Neither expected to find each other at the end of the aisle.
Mia Cross is a rising CEO with everything under control except her traditional family, who demands she marry before the year is out. Out of desperation, she invents the perfect boyfriend. But when her family insists on meeting him, her lie threatens to explode.
Liam Wolfe, her infuriating rival from a competing firm. He's ruthless, arrogant, and entirely too handsome for his own good. But he needs a "wife" to secure the business deal of his life. Their solution? A marriage of convenience.
The rules are simple: no love, no real intimacy, and an expiration date set in stone. But when family drama, boardroom battles, and scandalous rumors put their fragile arrangement under fire, Mia and Liam discover that pretending to be in love might be the most dangerous game of all.
Because somewhere between fake kisses and staged smiles, the lines are blurring. And the hardest rule of all to keep might be the one that forbids falling in love.
Will their marriage remain a lie... or become the truest thing they've ever known?
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Chapter 2
By Monday morning, my "brilliant" lie was starting to feel less like quick thinking and more like social suicide.
Work was my sanctuary, my territory. Here, I didn't have to dodge questions about my personal life or pretend to be someone I wasn't. Here, I could bury myself in spreadsheets and contracts and be safely, blissfully single.
At least, that was the plan.
"Morning, Mia," called Jared from marketing, waving a coffee at me. "Did you see the WolfeTech press release?"
I kept walking toward my glass-walled office. "Nope. Not interested."
He jogged to keep up. "They're presenting at the National Expansion Summit. Guess who's leading the pitch?"
"I don't care."
"Liam Wolfe."
I stopped mid-stride. "Of course he is."
The man was everywhere lately business blogs, industry panels, even on the cover of Tech Innovators Monthly. And every time I saw his stupidly perfect jawline and confident smirk, I remembered the way he'd smiled at me the day he poached my client, like he'd just won a championship.
I'd sworn then that I'd never speak to him unless it was to tell him I'd beaten him.
But now...
I stared at the photo on Jared's tablet. Liam in a perfectly tailored suit, shaking hands with some investor. He looked like the kind of man who could sell air to a drowning person and he was exactly the sort of guy my family would believe I was dating.
If only he didn't make my blood boil.
By lunchtime, I was at my desk, staring at an email draft I'd typed and deleted five times.
Subject: A mutually beneficial proposal.
I hated that I was even considering this. But the reunion was in five days. I had two options: show up with a random hired actor who might forget the story we agreed on or... rope in someone who was smart, quick, and could keep up the act without breaking a sweat.
Someone like Liam.
I typed faster before I could talk myself out of it.
Liam,
We both have... situations that could be improved with the right arrangement. I have a family event that requires a convincing partner. You have a business image to maintain for your upcoming pitch. Let's discuss a short-term... collaboration.
Mia Cross
I hit send and immediately regretted every life choice that had led me here.
An hour later, my phone buzzed. Unknown number.
"Mia Cross," I answered.
"Collaboration?" The voice was deep, amused, and irritatingly familiar. "I almost thought it was a joke."
"Liam Wolfe," I said flatly.
"To what do I owe the honor?"
"I already told you. I need a... temporary husband."
A pause. Then, laughter. "You're serious."
"Dead serious. It's just for a weekend. You pretend to adore me in front of my family, I pretend to think you're a decent human being in front of your investors."
"You do know I have options, right?"
"So do I," I lied.
Another pause. Then: "Dinner tonight. We'll discuss terms."
Before I could argue, he hung up.
I stared at my phone.
What had I just done?