

I was the second princess of the Phoenix Court. And I fell in love with a lowly black serpent. In my past life, just to be with him, I purposely picked that black serpent during the Sacred Bonding ceremony when we each chose our companion beasts. After that, we spent every night together. I didn't care what the whole clan thought. I was determined to marry him. But on our wedding day, that same serpent I'd given my heart to drove an arrow straight through me, killing me while I was three months pregnant. As I lay dying, I heard him hiss bitterly in my ear, "If it weren't for you, I'd have been with Seraphine by now. You should've died a long time ago." That's when I finally got it. All he cared about was power. And he'd been in love with my older sister all along—the sister who was next in line for the Phoenix throne. When I opened my eyes again, we were back at that same moment—the Sacred Bonding ceremony. Before everyone, he dropped to his knees and confessed he loved my sister. He begged not to be bound to me. The whole clan looked at me with pity. But I only smiled and pointed to a small white serpent resting quietly off to the side. That black serpent thought clinging to my sister would make him powerful. What he didn't realize was that only the one I chose would become the true heir to the Phoenix Court.

Nolan Ward, a submarine captain, faked his death and vanished for two years to stay with Talia Black, the woman he believed had saved his life, while she evaded investigation. Upon returning to the United States, he was convinced his childhood sweetheart Ella Morgan would still be waiting for him. He condescendingly proposed to her again and demanded that Ella continue to tolerate Talia. What he did not know was that Ella had long uncovered the truth behind his faked death. During those two years, she cleared her name, married Declan Grant, and gave birth to a pair of twins. Faced with Nolan’s public humiliation, biased favoritism and slap across her face, Ella offered no further explanations and refused to look back. She then traveled to Paris with her husband and children as originally planned. After Ella left, Nolan still blamed everything on her change of heart. It was not until the military reopened the old case that he learned Ella was the one who had given him her oxygen during the deep-sea accident. Talia had falsely claimed the act of heroism, spread rumors for years, intercepted messages, and framed Ella. Meanwhile, Declan confessed his long-hidden crush on Ella and gave her a proper proposal and wedding. At the wedding venue, Nolan received an arrest warrant. He was disgraced over charges including obstruction of justice, dereliction of duty, and faking his own death. In the meeting room, Ella revealed to him that she had been promoted to chief submarine captain and Deputy Chief of Fleet Operations. She had known all of his lies long ago. She bid farewell to her past for good and stepped into a new life with the man who truly cherished her.