Thrown out onto the road by her abusive boyfriend, Cora lands at the gates of the Dragon King's castle — humiliated, alone, and the last woman anyone expects his young son to choose as a mother. But choose her he does, binding her to a cold king who can't stand to be near her. Azar carries a curse: any woman he falls for burns. To keep Cora alive, he pushes her away with a cruelty that hides restraint, not contempt — while his son's devotion to his new "mommy" masks a growing hunger neither of them understands. As Cora uncovers the palace's darkest secrets — a vanished queen, a voice behind a hidden wall, a husband whose touch could kill her — she must decide who to trust in a court where every kindness might be a trap.