About

She wasn’t innocent. And he wasn’t pretending to be a hero. Adrian Vale — a cold-blooded mafia strategist, feared in every underground circle. A man who spoke rarely, but when he did, people listened or died trying not to. Calculated. Controlled. No strings, no attachments, nothing in his life existed without a price. Mara Elwood — a university student with sharp eyes and a sharper mind. Beautiful, yes, but dangerously clever. She came from nothing, and unlike most girls who got tangled in Adrian’s world, she wasn’t impressed by money or power. She wanted stability, a future, and she wasn’t ashamed to take what she needed. Their relationship was simple: He paid. She showed up. No love. No promises. No illusions. Adrian handled her rent, tuition, books, bills — and in return, she gave him her time, her presence, the comfort he didn’t admit he needed. They both gained something. They both lost nothing. At least… that’s what they liked to believe. But transactional relationships always break in one of two ways: Either someone grows greedy… or someone grows attached. And Mara? She was the kind of girl who smiled sweetly while calculating every angle. Adrian? He was the kind of man who thought he could stay untouched. They were both wrong.