Behind His Smile
At a prestigious university in New York, psychology major Lena Hartley meets William Langston, a charismatic and sophisticated star of the art department. With his poetic charm and perfect manners, William seems like he stepped straight out of a romance novel. It doesn’t take long before Lena falls head over heels—and slowly opens up every part of herself to him.
But the deeper she falls, the more suffocated she feels. Beneath William’s gentle exterior lies quiet control—he isolates her from others, monitors her phone, and dictates her social life.
“I’m only doing this because I care,” he says with that ever-so-gentle smile.
Just as Lena prepares to end the relationship, she discovers she’s pregnant.
William is ecstatic. He promises to change, and for a while, their fragile relationship finds new peace. But it’s only the beginning of something far darker.
After a sudden and suspicious miscarriage, William insists Lena "recover" at a secluded countryside estate. When she wakes up, she’s locked inside. He tells her, “This is our home now. I’m protecting you—from the world.”
To everyone else, Lena is on a sabbatical abroad, grieving the loss of her child. In reality, she’s disappeared without a trace.
During her captivity, Lena discovers the horrifying truth—William suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and she’s not the first person he’s tried to "love." Meanwhile, her aloof future stepbrother Sebastian has been quietly investigating William’s past, driven by a mysterious grudge that links the two men in ways Lena never imagined.
When the truth is finally revealed, Lena realizes she didn’t meet William by chance. She was chosen—carefully, deliberately, and long before she ever knew his name.
And the one man she never thought would save her…
might be her only chance at freedom—
and maybe even love.
