She thought being chosen would be enough. Until she realized the price. Emily Sullivan grew up knowing that love always came with a cost. After losing her father at three, she was raised in the shadow of a mother desperate to climb the social ladder—leaving Emily alone even in her own home. Her only refuge became academic excellence and a scholarship to the country’s most prestigious school. But even there, survival came at a price: betrayal from her stepbrother, cruel whispers behind designer hallways, and the quiet devastation of being wanted only in secret. Brian Karanell—the golden boy with political blood and a dangerous gaze—made Emily feel both desired and disposable. Her heart, however, belonged to someone else: Daniel, her best friend and the only person who ever truly saw her. Until he didn’t. Until he left. Years later, Daniel returns, full of apologies. Emily dares to hope she’s finally someone’s first choice. But when that hope crumbles, it’s Brian who offers her an escape: his name, his power, his protection. Now married into ambition, Emily lives behind velvet walls and glass smiles. But she’s no longer the quiet girl waiting to be chosen. She’s the woman who chooses. Darkly romantic, emotionally raw, and charged with betrayal, Love Me or Leave is a story of obsession, heartbreak, and the kind of love that doesn’t heal you—it transforms you. What if the only way to survive… is to stop surviving at all?