

Clare was the woman Axel begged and coaxed for—writing 99 love letters—before finally winning her hand in marriage. By their fifth year,however, Axel grew restless and began spending time with a young nurse. The girl, Emma, came from a poor family yet carried herself with quiet pride. When she firmly rejected the black card Axel offered,declaring she would never be anyone's kept woman, he became obsessed. Axel started appearing around Emma more and more,drawing the attention of all their friends, while briefly forgetting the wife he had once courted with 99 heartfelt letters. Clare neither cried nor argued. Instead, each time Axel broke her heart, she burned one of those letters. And when the last of the 99 was reduced to ashes, it would mark the day she left him for good.

A blood-soaked encounter at a lavish banquet pulls the Cohen siblings into the unrelenting grip of fate. Bound by morality's chains, they are torn apart, their love consumed by the fires of war. One year later, Ethan Judd plays a treacherous game, using his engagement to Ivy Cohen as a mere pawn in his meticulously crafted revenge, determined to reduce the Cohen family to ashes. Beneath a veil of crimson silk, secrets swirl in the shadows. Trapped in a maze of lies and conspiracies, Ivy inches toward the truth, finding herself once more in his arms. As the layers of deception unravel, blood ties, hidden messages from enemies, and endless wars pull them into a deadly, unforgiving game where survival is the only prize.