What if the power to save the world came with a price you couldn't escape?

In a near-future ruled by biotech empires, brilliant bioengineer Persephone Demetriou has achieved the impossible: a self-sustaining, bioluminescent organism capable of ending the global energy crisis.

But innovation has a cost.

When ruthless billionaire Aiden Kral, CEO of Tartarus Corp, launches a hostile takeover of her mother's company, Sephie is forced into an unthinkable bargain-six months working under the man who could destroy everything she's built.

Bound by a contract she can't break and marked by a crimson garnet necklace that tracks her every move, Sephie enters a world of power, secrets, and control.

Inside the obsidian walls of Styx Tower, she uncovers a truth more dangerous than corporate warfare:

• A stolen legacy hidden in her own past
• A man she was taught to fear… who may be the only one telling the truth
• And a shadow force manipulating them all from above

As science, ambition, and desire collide, Sephie must decide:

Will she remain a pawn in a system built on control…

or risk everything to set the world-and herself-free?

ROOTBOUND is a gripping blend of biotech science fiction, enemies-to-lovers romance, and high-stakes corporate thriller, perfect for fans of dark academia, futuristic romance, and morally complex antiheroes.