"She commands the world. He refuses to obey. Together, they ignite a dangerous fire."
Celestine Vauclain was born to command. Heiress to one of the world's most powerful dynasties, she walks the halls of Briar Hall University like a queen-poised, flawless, and untouchable. At just nineteen, the mere sound of her name silences rooms and demands attention, yet beneath the perfection lies a mind sharpened for strategy, control, and survival.
Declan Ryan is everything she is not. The black sheep of an esteemed Irish-British family of scholars, artists, and musicians, he thrives on rebellion, breaking rules, and bending the world to his will. Danger and charm cling to him like a second skin, and where others see boundaries, he sees challenges.
When these two worlds collide, sparks ignite-but not the kind anyone expects. Declan sets his sights on Celestine, determined to possess what he cannot control, to break the queen without ever showing mercy. Celestine, accustomed to wielding power with precision, refuses to yield.
What begins as a battle of wills quickly spirals into a dangerous game of obsession, desire, and ambition. In a world of privilege, prestige, and hidden family secrets, how far will each go to claim the other? And when love is forged on the edge of control, can either of them survive the cost?
Henley agrees to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for a fee, falling in love as she wonders - how is he involved in her brother's false conviction?
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Henley Linden's brother is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and she'll take any job to raise the money needed to free him. Soon, she's agreed to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for ten thousand dollars, so his mother will ease up the pressure on him to find a wife. But once Henley is enmeshed in Bennett's world, he falls for her, and she starts to have feelings for him as well. Despite her romance with Bennett, as she grows closer to the Calloways, Henley realizes they are somehow involved in her brother's conviction. Journeying deeper into a world of wealth and conspiracies, Henley is forced to rely on Bennett, though doing so could cost her everything.
[[word count: 200,000-250,000 words]]