The First to Leave

Everyone in Kingsbridge expects Nina Shane to marry her childhood sweetheart, Jason Graham. But in Valoria, any woman who remains unmarried past twenty can be assigned a husband by the authorities, even someone she would never choose. As Nina’s twentieth birthday approaches, Jason shocks her by announcing that he plans to marry the orphan she took in as his honored concubine, and he insists the girl enter the Graham family before Nina. Heartbroken, Nina decides to break off their engagement and marry someone else. Jason refuses to believe she is serious and keeps flaunting his intimacy with the orphan in front of her. But Nina is done waiting for a man who has already chosen someone else.