Never Your Mistress

Ava Reed was never meant to have a name in Ethan Sterling’s world. For three years, she lived in the shadow of a powerful billionaire who called control “protection” and possession “love.” But when Ethan announces his engagement to another woman, then asks Ava to sign a private companion agreement, she finally sees the truth: he wants a wife for his empire and a hidden mistress for himself. Ava refuses. Her escape begins with a stolen passport, a burned arm, a locked room, and a secret pregnancy Ethan can never be allowed to use against her. But freedom becomes even more dangerous when Noah, the man Ava believed died years ago, suddenly returns with proof that their past was not an accident. Someone inside the Sterling family separated them, and now Noah disappears before he can expose the truth. Trapped between a ruthless fiancée, a jealous family, a missing witness, and the father of her unborn child, Ava must play the perfect kept woman long enough to survive. But on a snowy rehearsal night, her final escape turns bloody. Ethan says he will give her anything. Ava’s answer is simple: no more secrets, no more contracts, no more hiding. If he wants her, he must marry her in public.