King of Envy

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of sexual assault and graphic violence.

Ayana Kidane is one of the novel’s protagonists and narrators. She is the daughter of Abel and Saba Kidane, the sister of Liya, who is a nurse, and Aaron, the cook at their family restaurant. She initially intended to study chemistry to work on perfumes, until one day her father was injured in an accident at the restaurant. To cover the cost of his recovery, Ayana dropped out of school and accepted Hank’s offer to become a model for the Beaumont modeling agency.

Ayana’s contract with Beaumont, however, often left her in a penniless situation and at Hank and Emmanuelle’s mercy, since they would often refuse to pay her for months—if not years—at a time. Nevertheless, Ayana became a household name during the Jacob Ford campaign, where she met the luxury department store’s founder’s grandson, Jordan. Through years of hard work, Ayana eventually earned the title Model of the Year, but as her fame grew, her distaste for the Beaumont agency deepened. When Jordan offers to pay her five million dollars if she remains married to him for five years, she is more than happy to enter a sham wedding contract with her friend so she can buy her way out of her modelling contract.