Prologue — The Day I Finally Woke Up I used to live my life like a well-kept ledger—every line balanced, every emotion tucked into neat little margins. Discipline was my religion. Routine, my sanctuary. I walked through my days as if sleepwalking in a dream where everything made sense, where what I wanted and what I had were close enough to let me breathe. Then one morning, I woke up. Really woke up. And the world had rearranged itself while I wasn’t looking. The city didn’t hum the way it used to. It shivered. Billboards shone with faces I didn’t recognize. Headlines screamed names that made my stomach twist. And at the center of it all—like a rot blooming from the inside of a perfect fruit—was her. Svlad. My nemesis. My shadow. My undoing. She had always been ruthless, but now she was something worse—untouchable. This is how it all began...

Ethan wanted to be a hero, so he became the man his family needed him to be. He had fun along the way, don't get him wrong. When an honorable request comes in, he has to take it. Will his bravery allow him to escape the hands of fate itself?