Description: For seven years, Elliot Carter loves Adrian Sterling hard enough to destroy himself-only to learn he was never the one Adrian wanted. He's just a substitute. A convenient stand-in for Sebastian Ashford, the untouchable first love who is finally coming home. The moment Sebastian returns, Elliot's place in Adrian's world collapses. Between public humiliation, a too-pretty assistant wearing Adrian's taste like a brand, and friends who treat him like disposable entertainment, Elliot finally does the one thing no one expects: he walks away. But instead of falling apart, he ends up on the doorstep of the one person he never truly forgot-Julian Bennett, his first love, a world-famous math genius who was supposed to be long out of reach. Julian is calm, brilliant, and far too willing to let Elliot back into his life. Adrian, meanwhile, is possessive enough to want Elliot back even after casting him aside. Caught between a toxic past that refuses to release him and a first love that may have never ended at all, Elliot has to decide whether he's brave enough to stop being someone's replacement and become someone worth choosing first. Because this time, walking away is only the beginning. And when old betrayals, buried truths, and unfinished feelings rise back to the surface, Elliot will have to ask himself one dangerous question: if both men want him now, who has ever truly loved him? Author Biography: Award-winning author specializing in dark romance and morally complex characters. Her stories are not for the faint of heart but always deliver passion.