Kendra is sent to marry Travis, a man believed to have only months to live, and unexpectedly helps him recover. He begins showering her with protection and gifts. As inconsistencies emerge, she learns that he has been feigning illness to keep her close, raising questions about the basis of their marriage.
A full scholarship to MIT promises a way out of a foster home, but the guardians substitute an alleged internship and a frightening premonition. The narrator remembers that the same arrangement led to death in a previous life. Apparent compliance now conceals a plan to avoid repeating that outcome.
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