The sun bled crimson across the horizon as Victoria's car wound up the familiar driveway to the Blackwood estate. The mansion loomed before her like a gothic cathedral, its windows glowing amber against the darkening sky.

Eyes that had watched her stumble through childhood, witnessed her desperate attempts to belong, and would now observe her latest humiliation.

Victoria's heels clicked against marble as she entered the foyer, each step echoing through corridors that had never quite ...