The story takes place in Riverton, a fictional city on the East Coast of the United States. The Hart family runs the established consumer goods company Hartwell Industries, while the Kingsley family controls the real estate and investment conglomerate Kingsley Group. Both are old-money dynasties whose business interests and social circles overlap extensively, with key scenarios unfolding in family manors, corporate boardrooms, luxury hotels, private clubs, bars, shooting ranges and racetracks.
Years ago, while Serena's mother was gravely ill, her father Robert transferred marital assets to his mistress Diana. After her mother's death, Diana moved into the family home with her daughter Chloe, and the mother and daughter subjected Serena to prolonged abuse: they broke both her legs before abandoning her alone overseas. The dying teen was taken in by the security conglomerate Aegis abroad, and a decade later, she emerged as "Silver Wing", a legendary operations expert feared throughout the underworld. Today, Arthur, the head of the Kingsley family, holds 60% of the voting rights in Hartwell Industries, and Arthur is grappling with a succession crisis involving his grandson Ethan, the most unruly troublemaker in all of Riverton. One party wants the shares for revenge, the other needs someone to rein in his grandson, and thus a contractual marriage of mutual convenience is struck.
