The Bodyguard

I'd always dreamed of my wedding day with my loving husband. But not like this. Not as an arrangement. Not as a promise made to a man I had never met. The plan was simple: smile, say yes, disappear into a life that looked perfect from the outside. A life chosen for me. A life that would keep everyone else comfortable. So I ran. I didn't plan on disappearing. I didn't plan on leaving my life behind, or becoming someone else just to breathe again. But when the future I was promised started to feel like a trap, I did the only thing I could—I ran. Now I'm living under a borrowed name, wearing clothes that don't belong to me, pretending I don't recognize the man I work for. Henry Grant. The man I was supposed to marry. He thinks I'm his new bodyguard. Quiet. Male. Invisible. He doesn't know who I really am, or why I vanished without a word. And he definitely doesn't know that every day I spend at his side feels like walking a wire stretched tight between guilt and longing. Henry is controlled. Broody. Distant in a way that feels deliberate. A man who keeps his world locked down tight—and somehow still makes space for me in it. When he's not giving orders, he's watching, observing, and seeing more than he lets on. The closer we get, the harder it is to remember why I left. Because the man he is now isn't the man I ran from. He's protective, patient, and quietly devastating in the way he shows up when it matters. And the more I learn about him, the more dangerous my secret becomes. I know I can't stay hidden forever. I know the truth will change everything. But falling for the man who doesn't know who I am? That was never part of the plan.