Roland was forced to take a bride he didn't want and resented his father for setting it up. The first glance of his would-be bride knocked him off his feet. Even unconscious, she exuded innocence. When he thinks about losing her, he vows to fight to keep her with him where she belongs.

Laila woke up in a place she'd never seen before with a man she didn't know. Instead of being terrified, she felt calm. Knowing she was away from her father helped her to appreciate the family she would make with the man she had no choice but to marry.

When Laila finds out Roland has done the one thing she told him she hated, she runs, but it doesn't end well. After she physically heals, she turns her emotions inward, unconsciously and slowly killing herself, and he would never allow that to happen.