A modern romance of secrets, second chances, and the legacy of love.
Elena Carter has lived her entire life between the dusty pages of books and the quiet aisles of her small-town library in Willow Creek. Raised by a fiercely private single mother, she’s never known more than hand-me-downs, handwritten journals, and the comfort of a world far removed from corporate towers and luxury estates.
Until a letter arrives.
Sealed in gold, stamped with a hawk crest, and bearing a name she's never dared to associate with herself—Hawthorne—the letter pulls Elena into a legacy she never asked for and a family she never knew existed. Overnight, she’s declared the sole heir to a billion-dollar empire, a seat at the Hawthorne board, and a scandal waiting to unfold.
Enter Adrian Hawthorne: the brooding, brilliant CEO with a past as haunted as Elena’s is hidden. He’s ruthless in the boardroom, respected in society, and absolutely unprepared for the chaos Elena brings to his controlled world. Her presence threatens everything he’s built—but also awakens something he thought long buried.
To keep the press at bay and the board in check, Adrian proposes the unthinkable: a marriage of convenience. For him, it’s about power. For her, it’s about belonging. For both, it’s a ticking time bomb of unspoken emotions and buried truths.
But what begins as a contract turns into something far more complicated when Elena discovers the mansion's attic filled with her mother’s letters—and the whispers of a forbidden love that led to a lifetime of secrets. As their worlds collide, Elena and Adrian must face the ghosts of their pasts, the pressure of public scrutiny, and the unexpected tenderness growing between them.
When betrayal surfaces and legacy threatens to divide them, they must answer a single question:
Can two people brought together by duty find a way to stay for love?
With heart-pounding tension, sharp dialogue, and a love story that defies the odds, Inherited Hearts is a billionaire romance where the wealth is secondary to the healing—and where love isn't inherited, it's earned.