There is a principle in contract law I learned, ironically, from the lawyer who drew up my marriage: a contract signed under duress is void. Not weakened. Not suspect. Void — as if it never existed at all. Because the law, in its occasional wisdom, understands that consent extracted with a gun to your head is not consent; it's just compliance wearing consent's coat. A thing you sign because you'll lose something terrible if you don't is not a promise. It's a ransom.

Paper Vows is a serialized fake-marriage billionaire romance audiobook, written by Mia. New episodes daily.