What would you risk for a love everyone says is forbidden? OPAL I've spent eight years proving myself in this town. Eight years showing them a Black woman can run an award-winning theater program. Eight years earning respect I refuse to throw away. Then he walks into my auditorium—tall, talented, and clearly running from something. Romeo DeAngelo moves like a dancer, teaches like a master, and kisses me like a man starving for salvation. Every instinct screams he's hiding secrets that could ruin me. But when I'm in his arms, I don't care. Until his past explodes across the internet: Broadway star accused of sexual harassment. Parents demand his removal. The school board threatens my career. My own community turns against us. Everyone says I'm a fool for defending him. They don't know what I know. They haven't seen what I've seen. And I'll burn my whole world down before I let lies destroy the man I love. ROMEO Three years ago, they destroyed me with manufactured accusations and paid witnesses. Three years I've hidden in shame, believing I'd never perform again, never trust again, never love again. Then Opal James looks at me like I'm someone worth saving. She's fierce, brilliant, and so damn beautiful it hurts to breathe around her. When she defends me despite the cost, when she believes in me when no one else does, when she comes apart in my arms like I'm her salvation too—I know I'd face any accusation, any scandal, any battle to keep her. But the woman who destroyed my career is coming to Pine Ridge. And she won't stop until she takes everything I love—including Opal. This Christmas, we'll need more than courage to survive. We'll need a miracle. Good thing Pine Ridge's legendary pageant specializes in those.