Chapter 1

The needle went in. The embryo took hold. And I sold my body to a man I'd never met—all to pay for my dying sister's surgery.

Nine months later, they ripped my baby from my arms before I even heard her cry.

"The contract is fulfilled," the lawyer said coldly, pushing a check across the sterile table. "You have no legal claim to this child. Leave."

I screamed. I clawed at the door. Security dragged me out barefoot into the rain.

That was three years ago.

Today, I'm standing in the lobby of Kensington Tower—the crown jewel of the most powerful conglomerate in the country—and every person in this building works for me.

My name is Sera Whitmore. Former surrogate. Current CEO of Whitmore Global. Net worth: twelve billion.

And I just found out the man who bought my womb—the faceless billionaire on the other end of that contract—is Alexander Kensington.

The same Alexander Kensington whose company I'm about to acquire.

The same man whose fiancée, Monica Lane, has been parading my daughter around the city, telling the press she's the biological mother.

My hands trembled as I stared at the magazine cover in my assistant's hand. My daughter—my Lily—in a white dress, clutching Monica's manicured fingers while cameras flashed.

The headline screamed: "Kensington Heir and Her Doting Mother—A Modern Fairytale."

My blood turned to ice.

"Sera?" My assistant, June, touched my arm. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I set the magazine down slowly. My reflection stared back at me from the glass conference table—sharp jawline, red lips, cold eyes. Nothing like the broken girl who once sobbed on a hospital floor.

"Cancel my afternoon," I said.

"All of it?"

"All of it." I picked up my coat. "I'm going to the Kensington Charity Gala tonight."

June's eyes widened. "That's invite-only. And the Kensingtons hate us. You've been buying up their subsidiaries for months—they'll know something's—"

"Let them."

I walked toward the elevator, heels clicking like a countdown.

Three years ago, they took everything from me. My child. My dignity. My name.

Tonight, I'm taking it all back.

Starting with my daughter.