When Arthur returns home after five years abroad, nothing is as he left it. His sister Laurel has been scarred by a disastrous, abusive marriage to his sworn rival Sebastian, and his former fiancée Claire-the woman he has never stopped loving-now stands on the verge of accepting the steady devotion of Charles, her principled manager.
Arthur believes leaving Claire was the only way to protect her, but the truth came too late: she has learned to harden her heart, caught between her first love's return and the safe future Charles offers. Each man embodies a different kind of love-Arthur's fiery, all-consuming passion and Charles's calm, balanced loyalty.
Around them, their lifelong friends are entangled in their own struggles. Emily and Marcus fight to hold their relationship together against the weight of Marcus's painful family past. Laurel's trauma threatens to shatter the family entirely. And Sebastian, driven by revenge, lurks with threats that extend far beyond Arthur's broken engagement.