The Golden Heir’s Collateral Bride

Sera Kestrel has mastered the art of keeping her mouth shut and doing her job what she has been told. she works as a maid in one of Chicago’s most powerful households—serving none other than Elara Veyra, the city’s most envied socialite. Cold, cruel, and flawlessly beautiful, Elara has been obsessed with Auren Draven since they were thirteen years old—an obsession she’s turned into an engagement, even if he never truly said yes. But Auren Draven isn’t anyone’s prize. A billionaire heir and scandal-draped playboy, Auren has just returned from London after thirteen years of exile, only to find himself trapped in his family’s political games and Elara’s unrelenting grip. He wants out. Out of the engagement. Out of the legacy. Out of the golden cage everyone keeps calling a throne. Then, he meets her. A girl in the wrong situation. Barefoot, and gripping a pair of boots like armor. Sera isn’t supposed to be seen—especially not by someone like him. But fate had other plans because when her brother is caught stealing from the Veyra estate to feed his addiction, Sera begs for mercy. But Auren wants something else entirely. “Marry me,” he says. “And your brother walks free.” Sera thinks it’s a contract. A punishment. A trap. And maybe it is. Because Auren doesn’t want a wife—he wants a weapon. Someone to break Elara’s delusions. Someone to burn the perfect empire from the inside. But the deeper Sera is pulled into his world of secrets, seduction, and lies, the harder it is to tell who’s using who. And behind it all, Elara is watching. Waiting. And she’s not letting go of Auren without a fight.