When my beloved childhood friend publicly humiliated me, my own sister called it harmless fun.
I answered by turning his joke into a scandal that swept the capital.
After years in exile, I returned unwilling to bend—to my scheming sister, her five doting brothers, or the prince who treated my marriage as a bargaining chip.
They expected a disgraced noblewoman they could sacrifice.
Instead, I used every plot against them, exposed every betrayal, and chose to break before I bowed.