Lilith had everything-love, wealth, a perfect life-until the night it was all ripped away. Her parents died in a tragic accident, and with them, Montague Company crumbled, leaving her with nothing but a sick grandmother and a cruel, unforgiving world.
Desperation led Lilith to a place she never imagined-a dimly lit bar where her voice became her only means of survival. Every night, she sang under flickering neon lights, surrounded by men who saw her as nothing more than something to be bought. But among them sat one man-silent, watchful, always there. Unlike the rest, he never spoke, never offered money-he just listened.
Then, one night, he finally broke the silence.
He stepped into her rehearsal room, his presence setting off alarms in her head. Fear tightened in Lilith's chest as she took a step back. No one here knew her real name.
Then he spoke, and his words shattered her entire world.
"It's me, Caleb."
"First you captivated me... then you held me captive."
Evelyn was like most college-aged girls working a part-time job when she met Caleb, who came in to her life when she wanted him least but needed him most. He captivated her. By the end of summer, she had fallen in love with him. It was then that he wanted her to meet his parents.
And that's when everything changed.
Caleb was not the man Evelyn thought he was. He came from a secluded village that did things much differently from the rest of society. Isolated in one of the most sparsely populated areas of the country, it was as if they live in their own little world. They were a traditional village for the most part, but there were some aspects that they did much differently than any other, especially in the ways of courtship.
It didn't take long for Evelyn to realize one thing: once you were brought home to meet the parents, there was no escape.