Overview

Iliana Lopez: Iliana Lopez is a ball of sunshine wrapped in designer heels and razor-sharp wit. A self-made powerhouse, she built her empire with nothing but ambition, talent, and a refusal to take no for an answer. Rich, beautiful, and always the smartest person in the room, she has it all—on paper.

But beneath the effortless charm and biting sarcasm lies a past she'd rather forget. Childhood trauma shaped her, hardened her, made her who she is today. And while she can close million-dollar deals before lunch, motherhood is one challenge she never quite mastered. Love? That's a complication she doesn't have time for.

In a world where power is everything, Iliana shines the brightest. But even the sun has its shadows.

Zaden King: Zaden King built his empire with fire, knives, and an iron will. A world-renowned chef with restaurants across the globe, he's as brilliant in the kitchen as he is impossible to deal with outside of it. Grumpy, sharp-tongued, and always in control, he doesn't do small talk, second chances, or anything that remotely resembles softness.

But he wasn't always this way. Once upon a time, Zaden was a mama's boy—happy, carefree, full of warmth. Then she was gone, taken from him when he was just eight, and the boy he used to be vanished with her. He buried his grief in late nights, fleeting women, and an obsession with work, convincing himself that success was enough. That if he just kept moving, kept building, he wouldn't have to feel the emptiness inside him.

Then Iliana Lopez storms into his life—too loud, too confident, too damn bright. She pokes at him, challenges him, refuses to be pushed away. And for the first time in years, Zaden finds himself wanting something more.

Maybe the golden hour he lost isn't gone forever. Maybe, just maybe, she's been his all along.

She's the unstoppable force of sunshine and sharp edges. He's the immovable wall of grump and guarded wounds. When their worlds collide, neither leaves unchanged—because some people don't just walk into your life; they set it on fire. And in the chaos they create, they might just discover something they didn't know they needed—each other's golden hour.