Callum Ardent needed a wife. Quiet, obedient, temporary. Seraphine Duvall was none of those things. To the world, she is the perfect contract bride—elegant, distant, flawlessly controlled. But behind her calm exterior lies a hidden agenda years in the making. Callum believes he chose her. In truth, she chose him. As their marriage unfolds, power shifts in silence. Every move he makes tightens a web he cannot see. And when desire replaces indifference, he finds himself craving a woman he was never meant to keep. Because Seraphine didn’t marry for love. She married for control. And she always collects what she’s owed.