The headline dropped at 9:01 AM.

BLACKWOOD BOMBSHELL: Billionaire and Ex-Wife Reunite—For Good?

The photo was flawless—because of course it was. Dominic, in a midnight suit, hand resting lightly at the small of Aria’s back. She was smiling, but not too much. Controlled. Calculated. Like a woman who knew exactly what game she was playing.

She hadn’t smiled like that in five years.

And she sure as hell didn’t smile that way when the shutter clicked.

“What is this?” she snapped, shoving the phone screen in Dominic’s face. They were back in his office—less than 24 hours into the arrangement.

He didn’t even blink. “Damage control.”

“We agreed—public appearances only. That photo was from the elevator yesterday. You set it up.”

He met her fury without flinching. “If we want the world to believe we’re back together, they need a little romance. Surprise. Intimacy. It sells.”

“I’m not here to sell anything.”

“No,” he said quietly. “You’re here to protect your company. And I’m here to protect you.”

“From what?” she shot back. “Gossip blogs?”

He paused.

“No,” he said. “From Marcus Hale.”

The name dropped like a grenade.

Aria’s face went still. “You said he was gone. That he backed off years ago.”

“He did. Until last week.” Dominic tapped his tablet, sliding it across to her. A photo: a man in a tailored navy suit, hand on a champagne flute, laughing with two of Dominic’s biggest competitors.

Aria’s voice dropped. “He tried to buy Vale three years ago. I turned him down.”

“And he didn’t like that.”

Her pulse quickened.

Hale didn’t like being told no. He especially didn’t like being told no by a woman who didn’t come from money, power, or scandal. Aria had checked all three boxes.

Dominic continued. “He’s planning something. He’s circling both of us. You’re safer under my name.”

“I divorced your name.”

“And now you’re borrowing it again. Temporarily.”

She stood, furious and shaken. “This wasn’t part of the deal.”

Dominic’s gaze hardened. “You wanted honesty. That’s the honest truth. You can walk out now—but you’ll be walking into a fire.”

Aria didn’t move.

She knew that look in his eyes. It wasn’t arrogance.

It was war.

And whether she liked it or not… she was already back on the battlefield.