Chapter 1

A new girl arrived at the brothel, and she kept spouting dangerous ideas about equality.

We all thought some nobleman would have her killed for running her mouth, but Edward Hastings took an interest in her instead. He liked that she had a spine, something rare in a place like ours.

Edward wanted to buy her freedom and make her his mistress, and all of us were green with envy.

But Lillian Monroe refused him to his face. "I'd rather work as a maid than be some man's mistress," she said. "If I'm going to marry, I'll be a proper wife or nothing at all."

Edward laughed at her audacity and pointed at me without a second thought. "Fine. I'll buy this one as my mistress and you can be her maid. That way you'll come home with me either way."

I couldn't believe my luck. One moment I was nobody, and the next I was Edward's mistress.

Lillian became my maid on paper, but in reality, I was the one who had to grovel and please her.

Every time she and Edward fought, he'd drag me to his bed to blow off steam.

Afterwards, he'd kick me out like I was nothing.

Eventually, Edward decided to dismiss his entire household to make Lillian happy.

He handed me a severance payment and said, "I bought you a house on Pear Lane. As long as you stay out of Lillian's sight, I can still support you."

I nodded obediently, but the moment I left, I took the money and boarded a ship heading south.

*****

The door slammed open, and Edward stormed in, reeking of alcohol.

He immediately grabbed my clothes and started tearing them.

Maids passed by the open doorway and saw what was happening. They covered their mouths and whispered to each other, their eyes filled with contempt and judgment.

I clutched my collar in humiliation. "Sir, you're drunk. Let me make you some hangover remedy."

I tried to stand and leave, but Edward shoved me back onto the bed.

I said, "Sir, the door."

Before I could finish, his hand closed around my throat, and I couldn't breathe.

He sneered, "Who do you think you are? You're nothing but a mistress I bought. You serviced men in a brothel before, so don't act high and mighty with me now."

All the fight drained out of me.

Edward pinned me down with bloodshot eyes, muttering Lillian's name over and over.

He snorted, "You think you can give me attitude just because I favor you? I can have any woman I want. You ungrateful fool!"

I squeezed my eyes shut because I couldn't bear to see the mocking stares of the maids outside.

Whenever Lillian angered Edward, he took his fury out on me.

I should have been used to it by now.

He rescued me from a brothel, so I owed him everything.

Besides, I was his mistress, and serving him was my duty.

I told myself this over and over, but tears still fell from my closed eyes and soaked the pillow beneath me.

After he finished with me, I endured the ache in my body and got dressed.

Edward only saw me as a tool for his pleasure and a way to provoke Lillian.

But after he slept with me, he worried about making Lillian jealous, so he never let me stay the night.

As I finished dressing and prepared to leave, Edward rolled over lazily. "Come back to bed. Sleep with me longer. Your room is damp and miserable anyway."

I paused mid-step, then obediently undressed and returned to bed.

The next morning, I helped Edward dress, but he suddenly grabbed my hand with a cruel smile playing at his lips.

"Lillian is your maid, right? A maid should serve her mistress. Go get her and bring her in here."

My brows furrowed. "That's not necessary—"

But Edward wasn't asking for my opinion.

Lillian was brought in moments later.

She shot me a vicious glare first, then turned to Edward with tears already welling up in her eyes—tears that somehow managed to look both wronged and defiant.

Edward didn't react and simply ordered, "Why are you standing there? Can't you see Evelyn's thirsty? Go get her some coffee."

Lillian stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to serve Evelyn? A mistress?"

Edward leaned back lazily in his chair. "You're Evelyn's maid, aren't you? Maids serve people. If you don't want to serve anyone, become my woman instead."

Lillian bit down hard on her lip, and her eyes turned red, like she'd been humiliated beyond measure.

Finally, she stormed off and came back with a cup of hot coffee.

I reached out quickly to take it.

The second our fingers touched, the coffee spilled all over Lillian's hand.

"Ah!" Lillian screamed and flung the cup right at my face.

The scalding coffee burned my skin, but I ignored my own pain and frantically grabbed for Lillian's hand to check it.

Lillian slapped me hard across the face.

"Get away from me! You did that on purpose, didn't you? You finally got your chance to hurt me. I've seen plenty of evil bitches like you on TV."

I didn't understand what she meant and could only stammer an apology. "I'm sorry, Lillian—"

"Enough!" Edward's voice cut through the room like a whip.

He examined the red mark on Lillian's hand with concern, then said without even looking at me, "Evelyn, you've gotten too arrogant. Get outside and kneel. You can get up when Lillian forgives you."

They dragged me outside and forced me to my knees.

The early-spring cold seeped through my knees and spread throughout my body.

I knelt on the frozen ground while voices dripped with mockery all around me.

"She's nothing but a two-for-one bargain from that whorehouse, and she actually thinks she's the lady of the manor?"

"If Ms. Monroe hadn't been too proud to become Lord Edward's mistress, this lowborn trollop would never have set foot in this estate. She threw herself at Lord Edward like a common harlot, but he wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole."

"Without Ms. Monroe's charity, she'd be rotting in a pauper's grave, riddled with disease. Instead of showing gratitude, she had the nerve to cross Ms. Monroe. What an ungrateful wretch."

Across from me in the pavilion, Lillian sat in Edward's lap while he coaxed her to eat grapes.

I watched her play coy and refuse a few times before she finally accepted the fruit, and relief washed over me.

Now that they'd made up, maybe they'd forget about punishing me.

Sure enough, Edward scooped Lillian up in his arms and carried her toward the house.

"Get up," he said without looking back. "If you ever cross Lillian again, kneeling will be the least of your worries." He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes cold. "Remember your place."