Forbidden Rites of Ignition

My mother marries a king, and the house key they give me only proves I am a hostage.

My stepfather speaks of me like inventory, two stepbrothers watch me as if I am already theirs, and a third man who saw me once never leaves.

Behind the family business is a circuit lit gold at midnight, where masked men decide belonging and a cult hides in plain sight.

Cassian does not ask; he corrects reality until I agree with it, Asher's hands-off rule was never meant to protect me, and Rafe breaks rules only when it matters most.

I did not come here for any of them. In this dark, taboo, why-choose war, I am the forbidden trophy none of them agreed to share.