"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 QuinVale Estate looked like a palace straight out of a fairytale.


Sunlight sparkled off pink crystal chandeliers and marble floors. The garden overflowed with blooming roses in every shade of blush, and in the center of it all was a playhouse—no, a mini-mansion—in soft pastels, complete with a balcony, tea table, and a working slide.


Inside sat Princess Aurora Vale, age three, wearing a glittery tutu, sparkly jelly heels, and a plastic crown that shimmered like real diamonds.


"Mommy!" she squealed, giggling as Arabella twirled into the garden in towering pink heels and a fitted pastel pantsuit, her signature blonde curls bouncing.


"Your Royal Highness," Arabella said with mock-seriousness, curtsying. "May I enter your royal Barbie palace?"


Aurora nodded with glee. "Only if you bring cookies!"


Cassian appeared behind her, balancing a tray of pink macarons and a juice box like a seasoned butler. "Your wish, Princess."


"She's your clone," Cassian said with a smirk. "I never stood a chance."


Arabella bent down and kissed her daughter's cheek, brushing a stray curl from her forehead. "You're going to rule the world one day, Aurora."


"I already am!" the toddler said with dramatic flair.


They sat together on the miniature garden table—Cassian comically crunched into a tiny plastic chair—while Aurora told them a very serious story about a Barbie Queen who turned her enemies into glittery frogs.


Arabella leaned into her husband's shoulder. "Can you believe this used to be a contract marriage?"


Cassian laughed. "No. And if anyone tries to remind me, I'll buy their company and delete the memory."


She giggled. "And to think, it all started with pink heels."


He kissed her deeply, Aurora laughing and covering her eyes.


This was their happily ever after—not perfect, not plastic, but powerful and pink and paved with love.


And as the sun set behind the golden QuinVale crest, Arabella lifted her daughter into the air.


"Say it with me, Aurora," she whispered.


Aurora raised her hands and shouted loud and proud:


Chapter 32 - EPILOGUE: Barbie Ever After