"Even if you are my wife, you have no right to control anything! You are nothing but collateral. Your father could not pay his debt, so he sold you to me!"
"Fine, then divorce me right now. I do not mind. I will leave this place this very second."
"It will not be that easy. You will stay here and be a servant in this house!"
I smiled faintly, stepping closer until our faces were level.
"Oh? You mean a servant who also serves you in bed, my husband?"
Emelia Perez has spent twenty-five years invisible in her own home, unloved and overlooked, while her younger sister, Bianca, soaked up every ounce of her parents' affection. In that house, Emelia is nothing but a shadow, her energy drained by endless servitude.
One night, her life shatters completely. Her father, drowning in debt, offers her as collateral to the formidable President Samuel De Leon. Without hesitation, Emelia agrees. To her, marrying a man rumored to be cruel, unpredictable, and disabled by a tragic accident is freedom itself. She would rather face a monster than remain trapped in her family's prison.
But the De Leon palace holds a secret. Samuel is nothing like the rumors. His beauty is lethal, his presence commanding, his heart icy and unyielding. Emelia thought she was gaining freedom, but under Samuel's rule, she finds herself once again a servant, caught between fear, desire, and the dangerous power he wields.
In a world where secrets fester behind every door, can Emelia claim the life she longs for, or has she merely stepped from one cage into another?