Guardian to Groom

Nora has been Calvin Thorne's ward for twelve years, since her parents died on an expedition. Calvin was her parents' student. On the night she comes of age, she goes to his room and confesses. He rejects her, insists he is her father, and calls his old promise something said to shut her up. Rebecca Corbin arrives as his fiancée and the mistress of the house.

The humiliation becomes routine. Rebecca replaces the watch Nora bought with part-time money, and Calvin goes along. At a party, Rebecca wears gray fluorite—the stone Nora once asked Calvin to find for tracking Moonstone energy. A mango incident leaves Nora in shock; after an attempt to take advantage of her is stopped, Nora tells Calvin he has killed every last piece of her that loved him.

Then Rebecca uses Nora's parents' medal as a table wedge. Nora confronts her. Rebecca accuses Nora of putting hands on her, and Calvin orders the apology, calling the medal cheap metal. Nora apologizes. That apology is where she stops expecting anything from him.

Nora requests an immediate assignment to the Moonstone Relic Expedition, the field where her parents died. The professor warns of a volatile energy field and a high chance of a one-way trip. A direct family member's signature is required. The expedition launches in seven days.

Calvin signs her waiver without reading, taking it as the training program. His parting words leave him as her father always. Nora prepares a goodbye.

The final roster arrives with top-tier life insurance for the entire team. The mission is a suicide run. When Nora takes a fatal hit, Calvin breaks his restraint, disowns her as guardian, and claims her as his soulmate.