Born into a family that never wanted her, Serenya Ashmare grew up in the shadow of her twin brother, Kaelith, the favored child who carried their parents’ pride and ambitions. While Kaelith offered her kindness, their parents gave her only neglect, treating her as a mistake to be endured. When they send her away to school, Serenya discovers the cruelest betrayal yet: her future has been sold in a marriage contract. But the man who “purchased” her, Eryx Dravenholt, wants nothing to do with binding vows or ownership. Coldly mysterious yet disarmingly kind in his own quiet way, Eryx sees through her chains — and chooses not to tighten them. What begins as a transaction becomes something unexpected: friendship, belonging, and a chance at freedom. Among Eryx’s family, Serenya finds the acceptance she was denied from her own. For the first time, she is not unloved. Not unclaimed. Not powerless. But freedom has a cost — and Serenya must decide if she will remain the cast-off daughter her parents wanted her to be… or rise as something unbound.