April 6th, a day that will live in infamy in East Void, Massachusetts, the day that Miss Agnes Bloch - heir to the Mail Pouch Tobacco fortune - disappears without a trace.
Taken. Tortured. Ruined.
Put through the unspeakable.
No ransom requested.
No chance of escaping.
But when all hope dies and Agnes' fire fades out, Isaac Bounder, the man behind it all, releases her, the very thing he loved about her gone.
March 3rd, just short of the one year anniversary, Agnes finds herself on the outskirts of town naked, shivering and adorned with scars, bruises and a fear that is all too real.
Now faced with the crippling reality of what she's been through, Agnes must also reincorporate herself back into society, and back into her family. But after nearly a year of being held captive, perhaps death would have been the more favorable route.
Guilt, fear, anxiety, and young love are all ingredients of a recipe for disaster, and for young Agnes' life.
With the man behind her disappearance still on the run, and a heart that is afraid to beat, what is the worst that could happen?
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]