THE WIFE HE NEVER CHOSE
Nora Ellison never expected to marry Elias Hawthorne, the billionaire CEO of Hawthorne Holdings. Neither did Elias. Years earlier, Nora's late father helped Elias's grandfather build Hawthorne Holdings from a struggling company into an empire. Before his death, the old man placed a controversial condition inside the family voting trust: when Elias assumes permanent control of the company, he must be married—and the wife approved by the trust is Nora. Elias is furious. He already has the life he wants. He doesn't need a wife chosen by dead men, and he certainly doesn't want the quiet, composed woman who arrives in his boardroom carrying a marriage contract. What Elias doesn't know is that Nora doesn't want him either. The same agreement protects thousands of employees through a foundation her father created. If Nora refuses the marriage, the controlling shares transfer to Elias's uncle, Victor Hawthorne, a ruthless executive already planning to dismantle the employee protections and sell several divisions. So Nora agrees to twelve months. Separate bedrooms. Separate lives. Public appearances when required. No interference in each other's personal affairs. And absolutely no falling in love. Elias makes one thing painfully clear on their wedding day: She may carry his name, but she will never have his heart. Nora does not beg for it. That becomes the problem. Because the wife Elias never chose slowly becomes the one person in his world who doesn't fear him, flatter him, need his money, or allow him to treat her badly. And by the time Elias realizes he doesn't want their one-year marriage to end, Nora may already have learned how to live without him.
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