Elana was once forced to become the Duke’s daughter Isabella’s “Shadow Bride,” enduring humiliation and abuse in her place until she died in despair. Reborn on the day Isabella chooses her Shadow Bride, Elana refuses to sacrifice herself again. Determined to escape the Duke’s control, she chooses to marry Arthur, the Duke’s poor but brilliant illegitimate son. Together, Elana and Arthur fight their way out of the Duke’s household. With Elana’s support, Arthur rises from an overlooked bastard to the powerful Chancellor of the Empire. Meanwhile, Isabella loses everything and falls into the very hell Elana once endured. Ten years later, the tables have completely turned. When Isabella and Cedric come begging for forgiveness, Elana has only one answer: She will never go back to the life she escaped.
