Emma has lived her whole life under rules that are not her own.
Every dress she wears, every step she takes, every glance she allows is dictated by one man — Charles. Once her protector, now her captor, he claims his devotion is love, but his love feels like chains.

Charles is torn between tenderness and obsession. His passion burns so fiercely it turns to rage at the slightest threat of losing her. To him, Emma is not just family — she is his world, his weakness, his possession. His hands shield her from others, yet those same hands leave her trembling in fear.

In the shadow of his control, Emma dreams of freedom — of friendships untainted by suspicion, of laughter that does not end in punishment, of love that does not bruise. But every attempt to escape his grip only deepens the storm between them. And yet, despite her fear, her heart betrays her with a dangerous truth: part of her still longs for him.

Between devotion and domination, protection and imprisonment, Emma and Charles are bound in a love that could either save them — or destroy them both.