I'm Letting Go of Us

Queenie Carson has spent years beside Shawn Smith, the son of her father's commanding officer, confessing her love ninety-nine times. At a party meant to welcome his ex-girlfriend Helga Steele, Shawn mocks her confession, dismisses the bracelet she believed saved her life as something he picked up off the street, and declares he will hold Helga's hand until death do them part. Guards drag Queenie out, and when Helga later asks her to give Shawn up, Shawn slaps her and threatens worse.

What love she had left burns to ash. That night she calls Mr. Weeks, her late father's old friend, and accepts his long-standing offer to join a decade-long medical research project in Imperia, one that will cut her off from everyone she knows.

With her father gone and Shawn no longer hers to guard, Queenie chooses a life of her own — and the ties to her soon-to-be ex are about to break.