Chapter 11: A Game of Lies

Ella’s

Mara’s grip on my hair burned like fire, her nails digging into my scalp as she yanked me down.

My knees hit the marble floor of the royal staircase, the cold biting through my skin, but I refused to cry out. I glared up at her, my chest pounding with anger and humiliation.

She had everything—Jasper, her family’s approval, the power, the title. She’d stripped me of dignity, forced me into servitude, dragged my name through filth. What more could ...