She stepped forward closing the space between them, until their faces were inches apart. "You may have sold me, but you underestimated me. I refuse to be broken. I won't be your shameful secret, and I won't be destroyed".

      But then she saw it, the fear and panic in her stepfather's eyes when she spoke. He glanced towards the ward doors as if afraid the man himself would materialize from the shadows. His voice dropped into a hurried whisper, "Then you're even dumber than I thought. If ...