Fresh out of high school, Claire takes her stepsister’s place and is forced to marry Kane, son of M City mafia boss Rex, to save her sick mother. But Kane runs away, and Rex becomes the groom. Trapped with a man her father’s age, Claire fears and hates him, until his unexpected respect on their wedding night begins to soften her heart. An unexpected marriage joins two wary people whose private goals soon become entangled with genuine loyalty and dangerous outside pressure. Relationships drive the story forward as every misunderstanding, confrontation, and reluctant alliance reveals another layer of the characters' motives. The protagonist must handle the immediate crisis while confronting the wounds left by the past, so every step toward freedom carries a personal cost.
