"The Canary's Hidden Marriage"
Three years ago, Mia signed herself away to the wealthy—a contract to be Owen's "kept woman" in exchange for her grandmother's life-saving treatment.
When the contract ended, she walked away without looking back. She buried herself in the world of jewelry design, determined to rebuild her life. But Owen's childhood sweetheart Chloe returned—his intended fiancée. She forced Mia to design her engagement jewelry, stole her competition entry, and dragged her name through the mud.
Then Mia discovered she was carrying Owen's child.
She wanted to use the baby to claim a place in his life—but she was terrified of being nothing more than a placeholder. Her grandmother's health kept slipping, the medical bills kept piling, suffocating her from every angle. Her boss Miles—who had loved her in secret for years—offered her a stable future. Her grandmother kept pushing her toward Dr. Ethan. But Mia's heart was still tethered to the one man who said he didn't want the child, refused to marry her—yet secretly paid off her debts, bought back her stolen designs at any cost, and rushed to her side whenever danger struck.
She tested him, again and again. He pulled away, again and again. She even considered ending the pregnancy.
Chloe snapped. She broke into the hospital, hurt Mia's grandmother, slashed Mia, and fed her lies about late-night trysts with Owen. Broken and numb, Mia pretended to accept Ethan's pursuit—just to see if it would wound him.
It did. Owen cut Chloe out of his life completely and laid his heart bare—she had always been the only one. He was just never taught how to say it.
They threw away the three-year contract. They stepped past the shadow of the other woman. And with their child on the way, they stood together against every storm the high society could throw at them.
—The contract ended. But their love story had only just begun.
