"Marry him, and your fairytale continues."

That’s what Arabella Quinn’s father told her.
And for most of her pampered, glitter-dusted life, Arabella believed fairytales were real. After all, she lived one.

Daughter of a powerful billionaire. Owner of a walk-in closet bigger than some apartments. Pink convertibles, private island holidays, champagne breakfasts. No bills, no heartbreak, no effort.

Arabella never worked a day in her life.
She never had to.

She was pretty, privileged, polished—and perfectly content being the center of her own glamorous, soft-lit world.
Until one conversation flipped everything.

To honor a decades-old promise between two powerful families, Arabella is forced into marriage with the last man on Earth she ever imagined she'd say "I do" to:

Cassian Vale.

Her cold, unreadable childhood friend turned ruthless young CEO.
The boy who once crowned her with daisies and called her "princess."
Now the man who won’t even meet her eyes as he slides a wedding ring onto her finger.

At 23, Cassian is the youngest and most feared executive in the city. With a mind as sharp as his suits and a heart frozen in secrets, he doesn’t want love. He doesn’t believe in it. And he certainly doesn’t care about the silly little girl who once trailed after him in pigtails.

But Arabella isn’t a child anymore.

And she refuses to let the boy who gave her her first fairytale become the man who ruins all the rest.

Thrown into a marriage where feelings are forbidden and affection is cold currency, Arabella must learn how to survive in a world with no silk cushions and no one to catch her when she falls.

For the first time in her life, she’ll have to earn something.

But Cassian isn’t the only one hiding secrets.
And Arabella isn’t as breakable as she seems.

As she begins working—secretly—under a different name in one of his companies, she discovers the ice surrounding her husband might not be eternal…
And the prince she loved as a child might still exist beneath the frost.

But in a world full of public scandals, ex-lovers, family expectations, and whispered betrayals, one question keeps Arabella up at night:

Can a girl built to be admired ever be loved for who she really is?

And will Cassian Vale ever see her as more than a favor…
...but as the one woman who could melt his frozen world?

She found Maya exactly where she expected — at her desk in V-Tech's executive wing, typing calmly, as if the last 24 hours hadn't just shaken the building's foundation.


"We need to talk," Arabella said, stepping in and locking the office door behind her.


Maya stood, smoothing her skirt. "I assume this is about the leak."


Arabella narrowed her eyes. "You used my name. My initials. Framed me."


"Funny. You only started caring when it hit your face on screen. Where was this fire when you walked into Cassian's life like a clueless debutante playing dress-up?"


"I've been beside him for years. Cleaning his messes. Fixing his image. Holding his company together when he couldn't get out of bed after Alyssa died."


Arabella flinched. "So this is about her?"


Maya laughed sharply. "No, Barbie. This is about you. Waltzing in with your fairytales and shiny shoes, stealing what you don't deserve."


Arabella didn't move. Her voice came out low.


"I'm sorry," Arabella said honestly. "But that doesn't give you the right to ruin everything."


Maya's eyes glinted. "Oh, sweetie. I haven't even started."


She reached into her drawer, pulled out a slim black envelope.


"Twelve years ago, you and Cassian met at St. Helena's summer retreat, right? Some childhood magic, kisses in the garden, a little pretend wedding by the lake?"


Arabella froze. "How do you know that?"


Maya slid the envelope across the desk. "Because it wasn't just pretend."


Inside was a blurry photo — a child's wedding vow, signed in messy cursive.


A handwritten "marriage certificate" drafted by a priest-in-training for fun.


Maya crossed her arms. "Because Alyssa found it. The day before her accident."


"She was planning to confront Cassian. To ask why he never told her about you. That maybe… you were more than just a past crush."


Arabella took a shaky breath. "Are you saying I caused—?"


"You may look like a doll, Arabella. But you've got a black heart under all that gloss."


Arabella's voice shook, but she held her head high.


"If I do," she whispered, "it's because of women like you."


Later that night, Arabella told Cassian everything.


The vow. The photo. Maya's accusations.


"I remember that day by the lake," he whispered. "I never forgot it. I just never thought you had."


"I'm sorry about Maya. About Alyssa. About everything you're getting dragged into."


Chapter 17 - CHAPTER 17: Queen's Gambit