In a world disguised as a school, obedience is the curriculum—and survival is the final exam.

The Lithen Academy promises structure, safety, and purpose for its students. Behind its locked gates, however, young men and women are stripped of autonomy and reshaped into rigid roles known only as dragonflies and butterflies. What begins as discipline quickly becomes control, punishment, and exploitation, all under the watchful eye of its charismatic and unhinged founder, George Lithen.

Harold Lithen was born into the system and groomed to uphold it, but as the academy’s darkest practices escalate—forced obedience, coerced relationships, and the commodification of children—he begins to see the truth behind his father’s vision. Around him, students fracture under the weight of cruelty and impossible choices. Some comply. Some break. A few dare to resist.

When pregnancies ripple through the academy and whispers of escape turn deadly, loyalty is tested, love becomes dangerous, and freedom carries a devastating cost. With lives hanging in the balance and the next generation already claimed, Harold and those bound to him must decide whether survival is enough—or if the risk of defiance is worth everything.

Bleak, haunting, and unflinchingly raw, this novel explores power, control, resilience, and the quiet rebellions that refuse to be extinguished—even in the darkest of systems.

Trigger Warning:

This novel contains themes of institutional abuse, coercive control, sexual exploitation, pregnancy, and violence.