Logline: He’s the King of Hollywood. She’s a stubborn single mom. Inspired by the Bible’s Queen Esther, when their world’s collide, the fallout promises to be deadly.

Synopsis: It’s a crisp October morning as Grace Zuniga (31) crawls through a field somewhere in the forest of Kings Canyon National Park. She’s injured, pregnant, and in far more danger than she knows. It was his manager, Sheri Barry, that tried to kill Grace. She may still succeed. As Grace fights for survival, she relives the past year, from one October to the next, calling to mind the moments, and the man, that led her here.

Grace was a single Mom when she met Evan Matthews (late 20’s), a handsome Englishman returning her lost cell phone. She was charmed immediately. Though it turns out that Evan is more than a kind stranger. He is Rhys Matthews, the reigning “King of Hollywood.” The fame is isolating and Evan falls hard for Grace and her family. She loves him, too, as he pushes her to face the fears she’s always lived with. It’s the perfect match of two very imperfect people.

By the end of October, she becomes his Queen. But the King casts a long, dark shadow, and Grace is married to the madness before she understands the scope.

Stalkers and Paparazzi invade her private neighborhood. Grace doesn’t want to leave her house. Then, blending the family is harder than she thought. Evan is not like-minded when it comes to values and raising sons. She’s a Christian. He’s agnostic, but admires her faith. He’ll give her boys anything they want, even if she disapproves. And for deeply personal reasons, Evan does not want his own children. Soon, the couple is constantly arguing.

In January, Evan has to leave. Though he plans to slow down, he’s already attached to projects for the next nine months. He wants the family to travel with him, but Grace feels the kids need the stability of home. After a few months apart, Grace realizes her husband is hiding things from her. A philandering past, a growing pill addiction. A complicated relationship with his manager, Sheri Barry, who only loves power and pretends to like Grace.

In February, Grace learns she’s pregnant. She delays telling Evan, afraid of his reaction. In May, she finally gathers the courage to tell her husband. Paying him a surprise visit, she finds a condom in his hotel room. Evan denies an affair, though there are pictures of him with another woman. Grace cannot trust him. He’s too skilled an actor.

The couple separates. Evan seeks comfort in alcohol and pills, while Grace isolates. She can’t risk Evan finding out about the baby from someone else. 

Meanwhile, Sheri Barry (late 30’s) Evan’s manager, an enigma, with one clear flaw: she loves Evan. Well, she loves the power and control of her position, how the King of Hollywood depends on her. She exploits every opportunity to create a wedge between them. For Evan, it’s a complicated relationship. He’s used to Sheri, though she’s too nosey. She over-schedules him. His life would be easier without her, but they’ve been friends for years. When his marriage tanks, though, he fires her.

To Sheri, Evan’s quickie-marriage is a problem. To Sheri, Grace is the enemy, and she believes in keeping her enemies close…

Throughout out the year, Sheri visits Grace a few times, poking at her insecurities, trying to figure her out. Trying to find a way to strike back at “The King” for firing her. In August, Sheri learns that Grace is pregnant and decides exactly how to hurt Evan… by killing his Queen.

Next October, Sheri attacks, with Grace weeks from her due-date. Sheri poisons the family dog, so Grace is unprotected. She confesses to planting the condom, so Grace would think he cheated. She beats Grace, stuffs her in a trunk, and drives her, in her own Jeep Cherokee, to Kings Canyon National Forest to bury the body. Grace plays dead, then fights Sheri, several times, making her escape.

Running throughout the night, Grace maintains a slender lead. The dark working to her advantage. High on a mountain plateau, Sheri falls to her death. Grace is safe, for the moment but must find her way out of the mountains.

The story comes full circle. Grace is crawling her way back to her car, bound and bloody, when she goes into labor. She finds her Cherokee and delivers her baby. But she’s bleeding… and passes out.

Meanwhile, Evan has been through rehab and is back to work when he hears that Grace is missing. He drops everything and pulls all resources to find her. Alerts media, organizes search parties, both ground and air. He finds her, and his newborn son, in the nick-of-time.

After everything they’ve been through, the love is still there. Evan never wanted to be a father, but Grace always gives him what he needs. The couple reunites, and when it’s time for Evan to go back to work, Grace decides not to make the same mistake twice. She and the family will go with him. They’ve been apart for too long already.