The Crimson Island—its very name carried a weight of mystery, a place whispered in stories but rarely confirmed. A land outside the reach of governments, untouched by foreign laws, its soil soaked in both blood and wealth. The island lived by its own rules, its prosperity built on trades never traced, on secrets never spoken.
Four families had carried the island's fate for generations. Among them, the Carter family stood supreme, rulers since the founding year. Their bloodline defined power.
Edwin Carter—the man once feared, the ruler of Crimson Island in his ruthless youth. He had commanded obedience, built the foundations of their dominance, and crushed opposition with an iron hand. But even the most unyielding rulers carried secrets. His was a daughter. A daughter who left the island for the mainland to study, who was abandoned the moment she bore a child, because at that time Edwin Carter cared more for the Carter image than for the beating heart of his own child.
