The Millionaire Heartbreaker's Fake Wife

Chapter 1

ONE

Lottie

I’m still half-asleep in bed when my phone rings. That’s never a good sign.

I sit up, rubbing sleep from my eyes until my bedroom comes into focus.

I grab the phone from the nightstand and when I see my sister’s name flash across the screen, I debate letting it go to voicemail.

Harper does not call at eight in the morning unless something is wrong.

And seeing as we co-own a wedding planning business, when something is wrong, it usually means a bride.

An unhappy one. I glance at the time again, bracing myself before I swipe to answer.

“Good morning. Should I be worried?” I ask, sitting up in bed and leaning back against the headboard.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” she asks.

I blink. “Find out… what?”

“That you got married, and didn’t bother to tell me. Do Mom and Dad know, or did you keep it from them too?”

My brain short-circuits. “Harper.”

“Yes?”

“I need you to say that again, but slower.”

“You. Got. Married.”

Harper is twenty-eight and my older sister by three years and we’ve never been anything alike.

We both have warm brown hair and green eyes but that’s where our similarities end.

She has always needed quiet, structure, and time alone.

I’ve always leaned toward spontaneity. We both attended the same boarding school, but while Harper spent her free time in the dance studio, I was usually wherever the band kids were, soaking up music and attention and having a little too much fun.

“Harper, it’s way too early for this,” I sigh. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh my God, Lottie. Open Instagram,” she says.

“I’m not opening Instagram. I haven’t even had my coffee.”

“Then open TikTok. Or Google. Or literally anything. Just look up Wes Winters.”

Wes Winters. I know who he is. Everyone in Deep Cove knows who he is.

Wes and his three brothers are the town’s biggest success story.

Several years ago, they started a luxury outdoor apparel company called Cove that totally blew up, and now the line is everywhere – in stores, in conversations, in headlines, all over the internet.

The company is headquartered in a sleek, glass building right in the heart of downtown.

My best friend Madeline happens to be married to one of the Winters brothers, so I’ve met Wes in passing a few times, but from what I can tell, he’s a hard guy to know.

Of the four brothers, he has a reputation for being the quiet one.

He’s still involved in the multi-million-dollar family business, but he spends most of his time out of town thanks to his main career as a pilot.

That doesn’t change the fact that here, in this small town, he’s recognized the second he walks into a room.

My fingers tighten around my phone. “Why would I be googling Wes Winters?” I ask my sister carefully.

Harper makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “Because apparently you’re his wife.”

I actually laugh. “Okay. Good one.”

“I’m serious.”

“Harper—”

“Charlotte Hart, if you don’t open your phone and look this up right now, I am driving over there.”

I sigh as I put her on speaker and then open the browser on my phone. “Fine.”

I tap open Google and type his name into the search bar and watch the headlines load. My stomach drops straight through the floor.

COVE HEIR WES WINTERS SECRETLY MARRIED

WEDDING BELLS FOR WES WINTERS AND MYSTERY WOMAN?

WES WINTERS’S NEW brIDE IDENTIFIED AS CHARLOTTE HART

“What the hell?” I whisper.

“Scroll,” Harper instructs.

I do as she says, scrolling through the long list of headlines accompanied by photos that all show the exact same thing: Me and Wes leaving a restaurant in Deep Cove last night with his older brother Jesse and Madeline.

It had been Jesse’s birthday, so Mads had made a last minute dinner reservation and asked me to join them.

Noah and Ford, the other Winters brothers, were tied up with work, so it was just the four of us.

It was a nice enough evening – Wes wasn’t exactly talkative, but I had fun catching up with Mads and Jesse.

It definitely wasn’t what these photos make it out to be.

In one shot, Madeline has her arm looped through Jesse’s and he’s laughing at something she’s saying.

Wes and I trail behind them, his hand resting lightly on the small of my back, his head tipped down toward mine.

And I’m looking up at him with full doe eyes like we’re in on some secret together.

If you didn’t know us, you might think we were a happy couple.

Maybe even a happily married couple. My chest tightens.

“You’re seeing it, right?” Harper asks me.

“I’m seeing it.”

“Now open one of the stories and watch the video.”

I do as she says, scrolling down the article until a video appears. I click it, and a reporter’s voice fills my bedroom. “Wes, are the rumors true? Did you secretly marry Charlotte Hart?”

The camera zooms in on Wes on his way into the Cove office.

Tall, intimidatingly broad, and completely unbothered.

There is no denying that the man is beautiful.

He’s the kind of guy you notice instantly and then can’t look away from.

Dark brown hair styled just enough to look effortless falls perfectly into place.

His jaw is sharp and defined, like it was carved with intention, and those intense eyes—the darkest slate gray I’ve ever seen.

He’s not in a suit, but somehow, he looks even more powerful without one. A fitted black T-shirt with jeans that hug all the right places, and a sleek bomber jacket that pulls it all together.

He pauses when the reporter calls his name. And then the reporter asks again. “Are you married to Charlotte Hart?”

Wes looks straight at the camera and says, evenly, “I’m not commenting on my personal life.”

The clip ends and my jaw drops to the floor. “That’s it?” I ask. “Did he really just ‘no comment’ that question?”

“That’s it,” Harper says. “He didn’t deny it. And honestly, looking at these pictures, I can see how the rumor started. You look married.”

I scroll down to the next photo and then I see it. On my left ring finger is my grandmother’s engagement and wedding ring set, the one I wear almost every day. “Oh my God.”

“What?” Harper asks.

“The rings.”

“Yup. Grandma’s rings. See what I mean?”

“This is insane.”

I throw the covers off and swing my legs over the side of the bed, pushing to my feet. I need coffee for this. Immediately.

“You are trending,” Harper says, sounding amused.

“Harper, this isn’t funny.” I stare at the screen as I walk to the kitchen. At the photos. At Wes’s calm, unreadable face. “I can’t believe he just let the entire internet think we’re married.”

“Yep.” Harper pops the ‘p.’ “So, for the record: it’s not true?”

I huff out a breath. “Of course it’s not.”

“Okay, but hypothetically,” Harper says. “If you were secretly married, you could have done a lot worse than Wes Winters. Some girls get ghosted, and you somehow get fake married to the hottest guy in Deep Cove. How does that even happen?”

I drop a pod into the machine and start a cup of coffee. “I have to go. I’ll call you later.”

“Why?”

“Because I need a shower and about twenty minutes to process this before I go ask Wes what the hell he thinks he’s doing.”

“You’re going to go ambush him at Cove?”

“Yes,” I say. “I feel like getting married is something I should have been consulted on.”

“Charlotte—”

I hang up before she can try to talk me out of it.

I make it to Cove in record time, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles have turned white by the time I pull into the parking lot.

My phone keeps lighting up on the passenger seat with notifications from the Google alert I set up.

It turns out the internet has a lot of opinions about my supposed marriage.

Fantastic.

I’m hoping I’ll find my new fake husband at the office so that we can quickly put an end to whatever this is.

Wes flies private charters, but when he’s actually on the ground, he consults for Cove.

He acts like he’s only halfway involved, but he is an owner of the company, along with his three brothers.

I slam the car door with the force of a newlywed who didn’t consent to be married and walk toward the impressive polished steel and wood building where sleek glass doors slide open to greet me. The place looks calm, like nothing remotely insane is happening.

I march into the building.

“Morning! Can I—” the receptionist begins brightly, but I just wave her off and keep walking. If anyone tries to stop me right now, they’re getting run over.

The shared workspace sits at the centre of the building, a massive open room lined with desks and glass walls that give a breathtaking view of the ocean. I immediately spot the Winters brothers at the large worktable in the middle of the room.

Ford, the COO, sits at the head of the table with a laptop open in front of him. He looks exactly like you’d expect—sharp, composed, dark hair perfectly in place, his expression cool and controlled in a way that makes people think twice before speaking. Intimidating, without having to try.

Jesse, the marketing brain behind the brand, is the complete opposite.

He’s sprawled out in his chair, long legs stretched out in front of him, leaning back like he doesn’t have a single responsibility in the world.

Effortless, charming, and fully aware of it.

All reasons why my best friend Madeline fell for him.

Noah sits next to him, looking a little smugger. He has lighter hair than his brothers, his features are softer, but there’s a cockiness to him that you can’t miss.

And then there’s Wes. He stands near the window, arms crossed over his chest, staring out at the ocean like he hasn’t just dragged us both into the middle of a storm. Tall, controlled, unreadable. The kind of man who doesn’t say much, but when he does, people listen.