Beaumo

e garden, now illuminated by the harsh glare of the estate's security lights.

ow was one of

were crimson, his face a mask of pure, mindless lust. He was on top of a w

a, the elder of Candis's two daughters, had been raised alongside me in this house, wearing the Beaumont name like a borrowed coat she had no right to w

ke a Trojan horse, and my father had accepted th

led mess, her face streaked with tear

A sound of pure, maternal agony was torn from her throat

to fight a wolf. She clawed at Dudley's back, but he was lost to the drug's power

r, public filth of it happening on Beaumont land, was an u

oared. "Get th

lready directing the household gu

f off Kianna. He fought with the strength of ten men, roaring and snappin

body shaking with violent sobs. Candis crawled to her, wrapping her

dis Bonner," he said, his voice lethally quiet. "This

as if struck.

d on, relentless. "And why was Kianna h

in the most humiliating way imaginable. She had set out to ru

struggling Dudley. "Dudley Nixon!" she shrieked, her voic

ll part of the plan. I knew Kianna's habit of eavesdropping, of skulking in the shadows to watch a drama unfold. I h

ad delivered hi

otion. He stared at the scene - his wife disheveled on the ground, his step

with authority. "Lock these two disgraceful creatures in the cellar." He gestured to Dudley and the

ether - went still. Just for a heartbeat. Then they resumed the

ir not to lock her daughter awa

ast life. My father, Donovan, looked at his hysterical wife and traumatize

something else...

tion. Years ago, I'd seen a medical report on his desk. It was from a bloodline purity test, a standard procedure for noble families. Candis's name was on it, and next to Kianna and Alys's names

d guards. He murmured something about needing the washroom, but his gaze flicked - just for an instant - toward the cella

too perfect. Th

oled. The look of a man who was waiting to see what his granddaughter would do next. His gaze lingered on me for a long moment, then dropped to the sh

s more than jus

tly who had

Beaumont family had c