The Heir's Dark Bargain

Synopsis

They reclaimed Edward Langley from obscurity and crowned him Crown Prince. The first thing he did was force me to swap places with his mistress. He planned to take our son and her back to the palace, a picture-perfect family of three. "Charlotte," he reasoned, his voice all cool practicality, "Evelyn saved my life. And as an outsider, it isn't proper for her to stay here. "You're from this village. You'll have people to look after you. Once the throne is secure, I'll return for you. I'll make you a royal consort." I fought like a wild thing. I couldn't surrender our love, and I would never give up our son. His answer wasn't a compromise. It was annihilation. To erase every trace of his past, he turned his soldiers on the very villagers who had sheltered him for years. Overnight, our home became a graveyard. No one was spared. He claimed he couldn't bear to kill me, that he wanted me with him forever. So, in his courtyard, he made me his eternal witness: eyes gouged out, tongue cut away, limbs shattered, sealed inside a water vat. He left only my ears, so I might forever listen to his whispered sorrow and regret. It was a pitying maid who finally freed me, her blade a merciful end to the nightmare. When I opened my eyes, I was back at the beginning, the very day the Emperor acknowledged Edward. This time, I didn't want him anymore. I wanted peace.