He was my childhood friend. My first love. The man who ruined me. Ryan Cross had everything—money, power, a brilliant mind, and a possessive gaze that once made me feel safe. I thought his control was protection. I thought his arrogance was care. But love that chains you isn’t love. It’s ownership. Just when I thought I couldn’t breathe under his shadow anymore, I met Noah Avery—sunlight where Ryan was storm, freedom where Ryan was prison. Now I’m trapped between two men: The toxic first love who claims I belong to him. The stranger who shows me what it means to be free. This isn’t just a story about love. It’s a story about breaking chains—and choosing myself.