At twenty-one, Cora marries Adrian for love after knowing him for six months. Under pressure and false assurances from her lawyer, she signs a pre-nup that---had she read it---makes it clear it is a marriage of convienance. However, she's lost in her dream of Prince Charming. 

​

Adrian believes that Cora married him for money and security. At first, he doesn't mind. He married her because he thought she'd be the perfect wife and mother. However, as the years pass, he falls deeper and deeper for her and becomes haunted by the fear that since she does not really care about him, she will leave him.

 

The novel begins when---in a moment of drunken self-sabotage---Adrian cheats on Cora with a work colleague. Cora walks in on Adrian in the middle of the act, forcing him to finally confront what he really feels...and what he's done.

​

Other content warnings: CPTSD including dissociative episodes (FMC), on-page self harm by FMC, reference to negative experiences with psychiatric hospitalization, reference to incident involving exploitation of FMC during childhood, reference to drug addiction (memory of secondary character in past), reference to removal of child from home by child protective services