After her stepsister and groom-to-be betray her, Elara dies in a fall, only to awaken with a second chance alongside the sister who ruined her. At the flower pairing ritual, her blossoms are seized by Cassian, an apparently penniless stranger concealing his command of the East India Company. Ridiculed for choosing a ruined man, Elara stands by him and promises to bear every burden at his side. Her loyalty captures Cassian's heart, just as his formidable mother arrives to tear them apart.