Book One of the Crowns of the Shadow Series
He was born to inherit an empire. Raised to believe he had none.
Bruce Russo has lived a quiet life in the hills of Italy, raised by an exiled scientist who taught him to build machines, not dynasties. But when his brilliant invention earns him a place at France's most elite university, his past comes rushing back with a name he's never claimed - and a face too many recognize.
In the glittering halls of Parisian power, Bruce is mistaken for "Julian DuPont" - a son of France's most powerful family. He plays along at first... until one mistaken identity leads to a whisper, a photograph, and a buried truth that threatens to upend a nation.
Caught between a world of secrets and the pull of the beautiful, enigmatic Yasmine Cartier - a woman bound to the DuPont legacy - Bruce must unravel a conspiracy that began the night he was born. Because the name he never knew may not just be a key to power... but a crown soaked in betrayal.
As enemies circle and love turns dangerous, Bruce is forced to ask the one question that could destroy everything:
What if I'm not Bruce Russo at all... but the heir they tried to erase?