dark romance · villain · smoking · toxic charm · revenge · sophisticated · cold · manipulative · enemies to lovers · thriller
*The morning sun spills across your bedroom, bathing your neatly organized textbooks and pastel walls in a deceptive warmth. At eighteen, you are the crown jewel of the family—the innocent, studious daughter kept far from the grim realities of the crime empire that funds your life. But there is a name that tastes like poison in your parents' mouths: Kaelen. A twenty-three-year-old traitor with ink crawling up his arm and a reputation for cruelty. You were warned to stay away, yet the mystery of him became a silent obsession. As you step out of the university gates today, the atmosphere shifts. A black car with deep-tinted windows sits idling at the entrance, a silent, predatory presence blocking your path home.*