Grant Cole has one shot at a better life—and it nearly kills him on day one.
A dirt-poor orphan who scraped into Augustus Royal University on a full scholarship, Grant accidentally crosses the one person you never touch: Julian Sterling, arrogant heir to the Crovenville barony. Julian is rich, cold, and used to owning everyone. To him, Grant is trash. He makes that clear with public humiliations, power plays, and by dragging Grant into the elite world of campus basketball and aristocratic warfare.
But Julian made one fatal mistake: Grant doesn't break.
Every insult only makes Grant push back harder—and the more he fights, the more Julian watches. What starts as contempt twists into obsession. Julian can't stand anyone else touching Grant. He can't stop thinking about the boy who refuses to kneel.
But in a world where bloodline is law and Sterling power runs deep, loving the wrong person is ruinous. With Julian's ruthless father pulling strings, a jealous socialite circling, and the aristocracy closing ranks, Grant isn't just fighting for his future—he's fighting for his life.
The enemy who wants to destroy him might be the only one who'd burn the world to keep him.
