A Marriage of Convenience, Enemies-to-Lovers Sheikh Romance
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A Sheikh. A Mother’s Lost Daughters. A Love That Defies a Kingdom.
She thought she had lost everything. He proved that love is worth the fight.
After her daughters were stolen from her, Haya vowed never to love again. For ten years, she searched for them, surviving on sheer determination and the belief that a mother’s love could conquer even the darkest forces. But when she crosses paths with Sheikh Rafiq Al-Masri, a ruler bound by duty and power, he offers her a deal—one that could reunite her with her children.
The price? A marriage of convenience that would shatter every wall she has built around her heart.
Rafiq has spent his life as a king, bound to his kingdom, never allowing himself the luxury of love. But when Haya storms into his life with her fire and defiance, he risks everything—including his throne—to bring her daughters home.
But when a devastating betrayal is revealed, can their love survive the truth? Or will the cost of happiness be too high?
🔹 A slow-burn, high-stakes romance filled with passion, betrayal, and redemption
🔹 A billionaire sheikh torn between duty and love
🔹 A mother’s relentless fight for her lost daughters
🔹 An unforgettable journey across Santorini and the golden sands of the desert
🔹 A love so powerful, it changes everything
DIRECT l AMAZON l IBOOKS l BARNES & NOBLE l OTHER
The sun hung high in the sky, fierce and relentless, baking the marble courtyard beneath Haya’s bare feet. She barely noticed. She only had eyes for her daughters—her whole world wrapped in the giggles and tiny hands of three little girls.
Nine-year-old Amira, bold and fearless, twirled like a desert dancer, her dark curls catching the light. Six-year-old Laila sat cross-legged beside her, carefully painting a picture with the watercolors Haya had given her that morning. And three-year-old Noor, her baby, clutched her mother’s dress, humming softly as she traced patterns in the dust with her little fingers.
Haya closed her eyes and breathed them in, their laughter, their innocence, their scent of jasmine oil and fresh air. A moment so perfect it almost hurt.
Then she heard the gate creak open.
Kareem.
Her estranged husband’s presence always sent a chill through her, despite the blistering heat. Tall, impeccably dressed, with the kind of wealth that could buy silence, he moved with the quiet arrogance of a man who had always controlled everything—except her love.
She straightened, instinct tightening around her ribs.
“What are you doing here?”
Kareem barely spared her a glance. His gaze was on their daughters. A gaze that made her blood run cold.
“They’re coming with me.”
The words shattered the afternoon like glass hitting stone.
Haya stepped forward, her breath shallow. “No.”
“They are my daughters, Haya,” he said smoothly, as if she were an inconvenience rather than their mother. “And I am their father.”
She shook her head violently. Something was wrong. Kareem never showed interest in the girls, never spent time with them. Why now?
“They’re not going anywhere.”
Kareem’s lips curled. “You don’t have a choice.”
She did then what every mother would do. She fought.
She grabbed Noor, her arms tightening around the toddler’s small body. She reached for Amira and Laila, but Kareem’s guards were already stepping in.
The girls were screaming.
“Mama!”
“Let me go!”
“Please, Mama!”
Haya struggled, kicked, screamed until her throat burned, but it was like fighting against a hurricane. Kareem’s men pulled her away, ripping her babies from her arms.
The last thing she saw was Noor’s tiny fingers reaching for her, Laila’s sobbing face pressed against the car window, and Amira—strong, brave Amira—beating her fists against the glass.
Then they were gone.
Just like that.
Her world ended.
Haya sat in the darkness, Malik’s small body pressed against her side.
The boy, only five, didn’t understand. He had never been hers, not by blood, but she had raised him since the moment Kareem brought him home from another woman’s womb.
His little hands clung to her. “Where are Amira and Laila?” he whispered. “Where’s Noor?”
Haya swallowed her grief, her rage.
“I don’t know, habibi.”
But she would find them. She would fight for them. She would not lose her daughters.
Then the phone rang.
She answered with trembling fingers. A man’s voice, unfamiliar. Cold.
“There’s been an accident.”
The words blurred together—a crash, a fire, no survivors.
Kareem was dead.
And with him, the only truth about where he had hidden her daughters.
Haya dropped the phone. A scream built in her chest, a mother’s agony so raw it could tear the world apart.
Instead, she did the only thing she could.
She wrapped her arms around Malik and held on—because he was the only child left.
And she would love him, fiercely, completely, as if he had been hers all along.
Because love was the only thing she had left.
The waves lapped gently against the shore, their rhythm steady, unchanging, indifferent to the passage of time. Santorini’s whitewashed buildings shimmered under the golden afternoon sun, standing against the backdrop of an impossibly blue sky. It was the kind of beauty people traveled across the world to see.
For Haya, it was simply home.
Ten years had passed since her world shattered. Ten years since her daughters were taken. Ten years since she had vowed never to let herself love so deeply again.
Now, she poured all her devotion into Malik, the boy who had been left behind.
At seventeen, he towered over her, his once-round face sharpened by time. He had Kareem’s dark, knowing eyes, but they were filled with a warmth his father had never possessed. He had been her salvation and her purpose, the only thing that had kept her standing when grief had tried to pull her under.
Malik didn’t remember much of his father. Maybe that was a blessing.
He had grown up on the island, helping her run the boutique hotel she had built from nothing. The guests adored him—his easy laughter, his ability to charm with just a look. He was everything his father had never been.
And today, he had finally convinced her to take a break.
“Mama, you need to leave the hotel for more than five minutes. I’m serious.” Malik had practically dragged her out the door that morning, his eyes filled with affectionate exasperation.
So here she was, sitting on a sun-drenched bench in the town square, watching as he played soccer with a group of local kids. He had always been easy with people, quick to laugh, quick to care.
She had raised him well.
She should have been happy.
But instead, she felt hollow.
Because every time she watched Malik play, she saw ghosts.
Amira. Laila. Noor.
Would Amira have been just as fearless? Would Laila have been the quiet observer, the artist? Would Noor have been clumsy like she was at that age?
Would they have forgiven her for not finding them?
Haya swallowed against the ache rising in her throat, her fingers curling into her lap.
She had learned to live with the pain.
She had not learned to silence it.
Laughter rang through the air—a sound she had once loved, now a reminder of what she had lost.
A woman sat on the next bench over, scrolling through her phone while her two daughters—one six, the other nine—chased each other through the park.
The same ages as Laila and Amira had been.
Haya forced herself to look away.
But then the woman sighed dramatically, shaking her head as if her life was the greatest burden in the world.
“You’re lucky you’ve only got one child.”
The words sliced through Haya like a blade.
She turned slowly, her chest tightening as she took in the woman’s tired expression, the casual way she spoke, as if she didn’t see the gift in front of her.
“Luck?” Haya’s voice was hoarse.
The woman barely looked up. “Yeah. These two fight all the time. They drive me crazy. Honestly, I wish I’d just had one.”
Haya went still.
Something inside her cracked, and before she could stop herself, the words poured out like poison.
“Be careful what you wish for.”
The woman blinked, finally giving her a proper look. “What did you say?”
Haya’s heart pounded. She should walk away.
She didn’t.
She turned fully toward the woman, her voice a whisper edged with steel.
“I wish I had my girls all the time. I wish their father hadn’t taken them that day. I wish I’d listened to my intuition and snatched them back. I wish I’d been luckier.”
The woman’s mouth parted in shock.
But Haya wasn’t finished.
“People like you make me sick.” Her voice trembled, but it didn’t break. “You’ve got all the luck, and all you can do is complain. And then there’s me. Do you know what I’ve got?”
The woman shook her head, silent now.
Haya’s breath shuddered. “My daughters were stolen from me. My husband hated me so much that he killed the people closest to me. And the only child I have left? He’s not even mine by blood. But I love him. And if I’m lucky, he won’t grow up with the same hate that destroyed his father. If we’re both lucky, he’ll grow into a man who knows how to love.”
Her voice dropped, barely audible now.
“But it won’t be luck. It will be a choice.”
The woman stared, wide-eyed, speechless.
For a long moment, there was nothing but the wind and the sound of children laughing.
Haya stood abruptly, her pulse roaring in her ears.
She needed to leave.
She turned away, her hands shaking, her breath uneven.
But before she could take a step, a voice—deep, unfamiliar, laced with something she couldn’t name—stopped her in her tracks.
“Who are you?”
She spun around.
And there he was.
A man standing at the edge of the park, dressed in crisp white linen, dark eyes locked onto hers with quiet intensity.
Sheikh Rafiq Al-Masri.
The moment their gazes met, the world shifted.
Haya didn’t know it yet.
But the past she had buried was about to rise again.
And her life—her carefully rebuilt, guarded life—was about to be changed forever.
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LUCKY: THE SHEIKH’S FORBIDDEN LOVE is part of Mollie Mathews’ SHORT SWEET SHEIKH LOVE STORIES collection, starring maverick Sheikh billionaires and fiercely independent later-in-life heroines. It forms the genesis for longer sheikh-inspired romances to be released. If you find a character you love, they could be in another full-length novel!
Short, Sweet Sheikh Love Stories
Destiny (Omar and Danielle)
Perfect (Hamad and Nicky)
Full-Length Love Stories
The Sheikhs Untamed Brides
Claimed by the Sheikh (Tariq and Melanie)
Stolen By The Sheikh (Anwar and Lucy)
Bought By The Sheikh (Fazza and Grace)
Tamed By The Sheikh (Hamad and Nicky) Coming soon.
Tamed By The Sheikh (Hamad and Nicky) Coming soon.
True Love:
Love In Venice (Mauro and Maggie) (3rd prize, Koru Excellence in Romance Award)
Love In Mexico (Ruby and Oliver)
Love In Sicily (Gianni and Kate
Love In Montana (Lizzie and Jack)
Love in Tuscany (Lorenzo and Sophia)
Love In Greece ( (Sophia and Aris)
Love in Santorini (Helena And Damon)