My family sold me to a monster to settle their debts.
The whole country knows the rumors. Nicholas Sterling is a hideous, reclusive beast who shuns the light, a man whose face was ruined in a fire and whose heart was twisted by cruelty. They say he buys beautiful things—especially women—just to break them.
I was delivered to his cliffside manor with nothing but the clothes on my back and a heart full of dread, a sacrificial lamb to keep my sister alive.
I expected a grotesque tyrant. I was not prepared for him.
A man with the face of a fallen angel and the presence of a king. His eyes aren't cruel; they're haunted by a grief so deep it steals my breath. His touch isn't violent; it’s a question that terrifies me even more.
He calls me his wife. He gives me the run of his castle. But he also watches me with an intensity that feels like possession. And the one rule he gives me is the most chilling of all: Never go into the west wing.
But in a house built on lies, how can I resist? The truth is waiting behind that door. And it’s more beautiful, and more terrible, than any beast.

The safe house smells like coffee and old paper.


Anya's cottage is small, cramped, buried in the hills where no one thinks to look. The windows are dark. The doors are locked. The only light comes from a single lamp on the desk, where stacks of files and photographs are spread out like a puzzle waiting to be solved.


Liam brought me here an hour ago. He said it was safe. He said Kai wouldn't find us.


I look up. Liam is standing in the kitchen doorway, holding a bowl of soup. His face is pale, his eyes tired. He looks like a man who hasn't slept in days.


"You need to keep your strength up." He sets the bowl on the table in front of me. "Tonight is going to be long."


My stomach turns. "What time are we leaving?"


"Nine. Anya will drive us. We'll go in through the service entrance, avoid the cameras."


Chapter 42 - The Unlikely Ally