Chapter 1
When my husband, Grant Silva, came back from the battlefield in triumph, the very first thing he did was cash in all his military honors to ask for my half-sister Wanda Sarratt's hand in marriage.
On our wedding night, he looked at me with guilt in his eyes.
He said, "Winnie, Wanda is delicate and can't handle any hardship. The title of wife can only go to her.
"But don't worry. Once you give birth to my first son, I'll make you my concubine right away. I promise you'll never be treated as less."
I watched him acting all tender, but all I felt was disgust. I just smiled and shook my head.
He thought I was just being difficult, so he walked away with a frosty look.
The next day, the King's edict arrived at our estate.
He was trembling as he looked up—only to see, to his shock, that I was the one receiving the edict.
*****
The wedding carpet ran from the front gate all the way to the bridal chamber, so vivid it hurt my eyes.
My husband, Grant, the triumphant general, was marrying my half-sister, Wanda, today.
And I, Winifred Sarratt—once his wife—had been reduced to nothing more than a concubine.
Everyone in the manor was waiting for me to fall, treating my misery like entertainment.
The servants' eyes were full of open disdain and smug satisfaction.
The candlelight in my courtyard was the faintest glow in the entire general's manor.
The door creaked open.
Grant, dressed in a vivid red wedding robe and reeking of alcohol, walked into my chilly, lonely room.
He should have been in the bridal chamber.
He looked at me, his eyes flickering with a tangled mix of guilt and something else—almost as if he believed this was only natural.
"Winnie," he said, his voice a little hoarse.
I didn't respond. I just watched him quietly.
We'd been married for three years, but he spent two and a half of them stationed at the Northern Marches.
I managed everything for him—looked after his sick mother, and kept the whole general's manor in perfect order.
I thought I was waiting for my husband's return.
But instead, the man who came back was an enemy who wanted nothing more than to grind me into the dust.
He cashed in all his military honors to ask the King for a favor.
It wasn't for the traditional reward of money and fame.
No, he used it to depose me as his wife and marry my half-sister.
The whole city of Sauberheim was scandalized.
I had become the laughingstock of Sauberheim.
Grant looked uneasy under my stare. He stepped closer and reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
His hand hung awkwardly in the air, and his face darkened.
"Winnie, I know you've been wronged," Grant said, his voice softening.
Here he goes, putting on his act again.
"Wanda's always been so frail—she practically lived on medicine as a child, and she can't handle any hardship. I just can't bring myself to make her a concubine," he explained. "She can only be my wife."
He made it sound so heartfelt, like he was the real victim here—the one everyone should be pitying.
I sneered to myself.
Wanda, frail?
This was the same woman who made my mother cough up blood from rage when she was gravely ill. Just how frail could she be?
And the one who was sneaking around, sending secret letters to my husband behind my back? Yeah, real innocent.
"And what about me?" I finally spoke, my voice flat and cold as dead water. "All the humiliation I've suffered—does that even matter to you at all?"
Grant froze for a second, clearly not expecting me to say that.
But just as quickly, whatever guilt was in his eyes vanished, replaced by a look of pure impatience.
"Weren't you always so magnanimous?
"Wanda's your sister. It's your duty to take care of her.
"Don't worry," he said, as if he were bestowing a huge favor upon me. "I've already made up my mind—you won't be treated as inferior to anyone else."
He stepped in even closer, so near I could catch the syrupy scent of Wanda's perfume all over him.
The smell made me want to gag.
"Once you give me a son, I'll go straight to the King and ask to make you my concubine. No one would dare treat you less," he said.
He looked at me with all the fake tenderness in the world, as if he was making some earth-shattering vow.
I snorted to myself.
What a joke.
You want the whole world to watch me share a husband—on equal footing—with my half-sister?
I looked at his face, the same one that used to make my heart flutter, but now all I saw was selfishness and fake sincerity.
The sick feeling in my stomach finally spilled over.
I just laughed and shook my head.
Grant's brow furrowed even more.
He figured I was just making a fuss, being difficult for no reason.
"Winnie, don't make this harder than it needs to be. I'm tired, and Wanda's still waiting for me," he said, his impatience barely concealed.
He made no effort to hide his impatience anymore.
"Think it over—being made a concubine is already more dignified than most could hope for. Don't be foolish," Grant said, his voice cutting.
With that, he didn't spare me another look, his expression icy as he left in a huff.
His tall figure walked out the door, taking with him the last bit of warmth in the room.
I listened as his footsteps faded away, and from somewhere in the distance, the faint sound of wedding music floated in.
It was his wedding night.
And for me, it was the start of my own descent into the abyss.