Anna, a Scavenger Girl auctioned to the highest bidder at the Seller's Stage as a surrogate, is purchased by one of the most influential families in Ashlund. Despite her efforts to appease them, tension grows when she cannot give them what they want most. As a slave whose life is in the hands of those with status, an arrangement is made - an agreement so unspeakable the consequence of discovery is worse than death for everyone involved, but it just might work. Freedom is found through servitude in a place girls like her rarely find: in the arms of a loving man. But when betrayal and suspicion overshadow hope and desire, secrets kept too long take a murderous turn to protect them. One night of desperation and tragedy seals their fate, forcing confessions to save the most innocent among them.