HE RUINED MY REPUTATION TO ENSURE I COULD NEVER LEAVE HIM. I was a simple servant at Mansfield Manor until I stepped into the forbidden wing. One look from Prince Percy Dunn changed my life forever. He is the Commander of the Royal Guard. He is a mountain of muscle and iron will. To keep me, he chose to destroy me. He claimed me as his ward in front of the entire court. My reputation died in a single afternoon. Now, I can never go home. I can never marry a common man. I belong to the Prince. He traded my drab wool for heavy silks and suffocating lace. Every morning, he stands behind me. He pulls the stays of my corset until I can only breathe when he allows it. This palace is a gilded cage. The elite whisper behind their fans. They want to see me fall even further. Scarlett Fitzgerald and Earl Hargreaves are circling like wolves. They want to expose my common blood and cast me into the gutter. Percy does not care about their rules. He only cares about my absolute surrender. His protection is a heavy weight. He has isolated me from the world. He is my only sanctuary and my greatest threat. The more he dominates my life, the more I crave the heat of his touch. I am no longer the girl I used to be. I am a fallen woman bound in ribbon and steel. I am his eternal prize, and he will burn the kingdom to the ground before he lets me go.