"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?

The Vale estate in Belgrave Hills was eerily silent as Arabella walked up the marble steps.


Inside, the drawing room looked like a page from a royal museum — oil paintings, crystal chandeliers, and at the center of it all, Celeste Vale.


Impeccable in a navy pantsuit, sipping white wine, Celeste didn't bother to stand.


"Arabella Quinn. Or should I say Mrs. Vale. I wondered how long it'd take before you stopped hiding behind my stepson."


Arabella didn't flinch. "No hiding. Just calculating. You like numbers, don't you? I thought I'd bring you some."


Inside — copies of financial transfers from Celeste Vale's private account to Maya Greene. Large ones. Discreet. Always timed around V-Tech's major shareholder meetings.


Celeste raised a brow. "You broke into company records?"


"I married the CEO. I have access," Arabella replied. "But what really caught my eye was this."


She tossed another envelope onto the coffee table — photos from a traffic cam, dated the night Alyssa died.


A silver Mercedes with Celeste's plate… tailing Alyssa's car just minutes before the crash.


"It proves you were following her," Arabella said coldly. "And you paid Maya to finish the rest."


"Alyssa was going to ruin everything. She wanted Cassian to sell the company. Move abroad. Cut me out."


"I scared her," Celeste hissed. "I just wanted her to back off. But she sped off and lost control. That wasn't my fault."


Arabella's hands clenched. "And what about me? You tried to destroy me too."


"I underestimated you. I won't do that again."


The moment Celeste reached for her phone, Arabella dropped the real bomb.


"You're not calling your lawyer," she said, voice like ice. "Because I've already sent all this to the press. And the board. And the police."


"You taught Cassian how to be cold. But I? I learned how to be dangerous."


That night, Cassian wrapped his arms around her.


"I had to," Arabella whispered. "You've been protecting me all this time. I wanted to protect you."


He touched her cheek, eyes heavy with something deep and full.


"God, Arabella… what would I have done without you?"


"Luckily, you'll never have to find out."


Chapter 19 - CHAPTER 19:The Girl Behind the Glass