The Boundary of Thorns

In the isolated borderland of Veyran, where two nations bleed into one another through ancient forests, a quiet midwife named Elara endures her husband's brutality in a society that silences women. When she discovers he intends to replace her with a younger bride, a jealousy so corrosive takes root that it seeks no gain—only annihilation. Masked by her flawless facade of gentleness, Elara orchestrates a poisoning that will appear as a tragic accident during a cross-border detention crisis. But as the bodies fall, the line between victim and predator vanishes, and the poison spreads far beyond her intended target.