At twenty-two, Elena was accepted into nursing school, but her family's dire financial straits forced her—via a lottery—into a contract marriage with Cole, a fishing boat captain rumored to be cold and stern. Expecting another miserable existence, she was surprised to find warmth in Cole's mother, Margaret, and discovered that Cole himself—though outwardly aloof—was a man of deep feeling. From the moment Elena arrived at the Morgan household, the sea seemed to favor her: she stumbled upon rare marine treasures during low tide, the fishing boats returned with bountiful catches, and a string of extraordinary good fortune followed her. Her dormant mermaid lineage began to awaken, and the seashell pendant she had carried since infancy held the secret of her true origins. Recognizing Elena's burning desire to pursue her education, Cole worked tirelessly at sea to fund her return to school. Elena was no mere beneficiary of luck; through hard work, she qualified as a nurse and opened a community clinic to care for the local people. Having weathered her sisters' jealousy and malicious gossip, she and Cole built a loving family together while she gradually embraced her destiny as a mermaid of the Tide-Folk.