Paper Father

Leona Hart has been fighting since she was twelve.Since the day she first bled, her family whispered of a ritual. A blade. A rite of passage that would make her marriageable, pure, worthy. For years, she defied them. Hid. Ran. But now, at eighteen, they’ve run out of patience—and found her a husband.And before the wedding, they plan to finish what they started.One night, she wakes to the sound of doors creaking open and hands on her thighs. Aunties murmuring prayers. Her mother watching with silent approval. But before the blade can fall, her three-year-old sister, Lila, bites the woman holding it—and gives Leona the chance to escape.She runs into the night.And straight into the path of a black car.Cassian Sterling doesn’t believe in fate. But when the girl they nearly hit refuses to go home—clutches her little sister like a shield and whispers about mutilation and forced marriage—he does something no one expects:He claims them.By morning, the birth certificates say the girls are his.But saving Leona doesn’t mean setting her free. Because now she belongs to Cassian. Not by blood. Not by love. But by law.And the longer she stays, the more tangled that paper bond becomes…Because now she lives in his mansion. Protected. Owned.And every day, the line between guardian and lover gets thinner.