The Optimization Paradox

Elena Vance's holistic wellness retreat is her sanctuary—a haven from the cold, data-driven world that failed her when it mattered most. Carter Li is that world embodied: a brilliant, biohacking tech CEO who views human emotion as an inefficient variable. When a financial crisis forces Elena to accept his merger offer, there's one impossible condition: to convince his skeptical board, they must pretend to be in a relationship. Armed with a laughably clinical "Synergy Alignment Protocol," they embark on a performance of a lifetime. He's logic, spreadsheets, and optimized living. She's intuition, sage smoke, and messy gardens. But their carefully curated facade begins to crack under the forced proximity of living together at her retreat. A tender, unscripted touch sparks a media frenzy. A fierce, off-script defense reveals unexpected respect. And a shared moment of vulnerability becomes a data point that threatens to crash his entire system. Now, caught between a billion-dollar deal and the terrifying, real feelings they can no longer ignore, Carter and Elena must decide: Is love the ultimate risk, or the one variable that could optimize both their lives for good? A deliciously smart romance about second chances, finding love after forty, and proving that even the most perfectly planned life has room for a beautiful, un-optimized plot twist.