Chapter 1

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A marriage arranged between families, and I ended up wedded to Ezra Henson, the head of the Henson family, the man who went by the nickname "Satan."

Ezra was restrained, self-possessed, cold and distant with me.

But every night, it was as if he became someone else.

Tender, clingy, careful and doting.

I thought he was only shy during the day, bad at putting his feelings into words.

Until one night, wrapped around each other, he breathed against my ear.

"Edie, don't let Ezra touch you. You belong to me and no one else..."

I stared at the man in front of me, the man flushed with desire.

He had the exact same face as Ezra.

If he wasn't Ezra...

then who was he?!

1

The next morning, I tested the waters with Ezra.

"What was the surprise you said you'd give me last night?"

His eyes went blank.

"I was in the study all night. When did I ever see you?"

I dropped my gaze and stirred the milk in front of me.

"Oh. I guess I was half-asleep and confused..."

Nothing showed on my face, but inside everything was churning.

I was right.

The man who had held me all through the night was not Ezra.

Fear crawled over my arms in a rush of goosebumps.

But that face...

If not Ezra, then who?

I didn't dare say a word about it, least of all to Ezra.

Ours was an arranged marriage. He felt nothing for me.

If this got out, I'd be sent straight back to the Sullivan family.

And then I'd be better off dead.

That night I watched with my own eyes as Ezra went into the study, exactly the way he always did.

Uneasy, I went back to the bedroom.

Showered, changed into my nightgown.

Midnight.

I was pulled against a burning chest.

That scent I knew so well...

My heartbeat lost its rhythm in an instant.

My whole body went rigid, and I forced myself to stay calm.

Warm breath brushed my earlobe, his voice low and lingering.

"Edie, I haven't seen you all day. I missed you so much."

But we'd only seen each other that evening...

He really wasn't Ezra.

A faint coolness touched my fingertip.

A diamond ring slid onto my ring finger.

He traced slow circles in my palm, his tone gentle.

"This is the surprise I promised you last night... Do you like it?"

I couldn't hold back the doubt and fear any longer.

I looked up at that face, identical to Ezra's down to the last detail, and my voice shook as I demanded an answer.

"Who exactly are you?"

He paused, then laughed out loud.

"I'm Percy Henson."

Percy?

Who was Percy?

Three months married into the Henson family, and I had never once heard that name.

The man who called himself Percy pinned me beneath him.

He kissed my face the way he always did, hungry for me, then my lips... trailing lower.

I came back to myself and caught his hand at once.

"I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well today."

He didn't get angry. He gathered me into his arms instead.

His warm palm patting my back, over and over, soothing me.

"Sleep. I'll stay with you."

I don't know when I finally fell asleep.

When I woke, the space beside me was long empty.

I got up and went downstairs.

I caught a passing servant by the arm and asked, "Do you know Percy?"

She shook her head.

I asked a few more people. Every one of them looked lost.

If the diamond ring Percy had given me weren't still on my finger,

I'd have doubted last night was anything but a dream.

Someone told me to go ask the housekeeper.

She'd served the Henson family for thirty years and knew everything, big and small.

But the moment she heard the name Percy,

the color drained from the housekeeper's face.

She clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Young mistress, you must never say that name again!"