Elias drove in silence, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than usual. The city lights blurred past the windows, but his mind was elsewhere. His grandmother’s words still echoed inside his head, sharp and heavy like chains.

“Elias will marry the Denovans’ daughter… Elias will not waste his life with someone beneath us.”

The words made his jaw clench. It was delusional. His grandmother thought she could control everything and everyone. She thought she could decide who he loved, who he would marry, what kind of life he would live. She had no idea the “Denovan daughter” she wanted to tie him to was already the woman he loved...