Elena, a marginalized heir and senior history student, chooses the severe Professor Alistair as her thesis adviser in hopes of earning independence from her family. Academic mentoring becomes a transgressive struggle over authority and desire. Alistair's fiancée Claire and Elena's uncle Marcus invoke the university's Eleventh Clause to destroy them publicly. Under pressure from school, family, and the forbidden relationship, Elena stops obeying out of fear and learns to control the rules and evidence herself, transforming from a subject of study into the person who decides her future.
