The sharp sting of Victoria’s hand across her cheek was nothing compared to the cruelty in her words as she dragged the crying girl toward the front door, declaring that with her mother gone, she was no longer welcome in her own family home. But just as Victoria tried to cast her out into the cold, a booming voice echoed down the grand staircase—the father had returned early. Freezing in terror as her false charm crumbled, Victoria could only stammer an excuse, but the sight of her trembling stepdaughter and the fury in her husband’s eyes made one thing unmistakably clear: her reign in that house was already over.