"You are... handsome?" I stopped in my tracks, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

He let out a soft, amused breath. "Were you expecting a beast?" he asked, tilting his head slightly, eyes gleaming with quiet mischief.

"Well... according to the rumors..." I trailed off, cheeks flushing with heat.

He took a slow step toward me, his gaze never leaving mine. "You seem to like rumours and tales."

---

Nirelle’s fate is sealed. After a life of endless scrubbing, suffering, and silence, her father decides her worth lies in securing a business deal. A deal so massive, it promises to thrust their family into elite status—at the cost of her freedom.

Married off to a man cloaked in more secrets than the night sky, Nirelle wants to run. But there's nowhere to go. With every ounce of strength she has left, she chooses to shift prisons—from her father’s oppressive home to her new husband’s mansion.

Lucien Vexley is nothing like she expected. The name alone strikes fear on the streets, the rumours painting him as a shadowy, ruthless enigma. Yet the man sitting across from her at the dining table, caring for her in ways she’s never known, is nothing like the beast they described.

Lucien is a mystery she can’t seem to solve.

Nirelle doesn’t understand the warmth beginning to stir in her chest, the way her stomach flutters when he's near. But something is changing. Something deep. Something dangerous.

She’s not just learning how to survive anymore—

She’s learning how to become her.