Zoey Spence, heiress of the Spence family, is pressured by her relatives to follow the family tradition of taking in a live-in husband, someone who must abandon personal ambitions to protect her. Zoey recalls saving Ian, a handsome scholar with dreams of official success, whom she secretly lived with for half a year before faking her death to break ties due to conflicting expectations. Now of age, Zoey must choose from a list of suitors, all failing to meet her standards or match Ian’s qualities. Rejecting them all, she insists she would rather remain single than settle for less.