Page 5

I’d been so stunned by everything that I hadn’t noticed it at first.

With one more smile she left me alone, closing the door behind her.

For a second I was frozen in place, my knees threatening to buckle, but I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly.

I was now legally bound to the man—the Beast—they called Master. Forms had been signed before I’d been picked up to be taken to my new home. My father had apologized repeatedly, but I’d been in too much of a fog to pay attention to him or what he said.

How could I pay attention to anything but being legally bound to my new husband—his will something I had to bend to, submit to?

I only allowed ten minutes of alone time to compose myself. I wanted to cry, scream, break something, and just get the frustration out, but I knew none of that would help me right now.

And refusing wasn’t an option, not when my father’s life was at stake.

This all seemed like a dream, with the expensive things, the lavish attendance, and the waitstaff serving me hand and foot. But I wasn’t a fool in knowing what this reality really was about.

I’d read the paperwork before I signed it.

This wasn’t just the Beast needing a wife. He wanted heirs.

3

Belle

Itightened my hands around the skirting of the dress the Beast had picked out for me to wear for dinner tonight.

It was a soft blue with a yellow satin ribbon tied under the bust. The sleeves were dainty and capped, and my neck, shoulders, and most of my arms were exposed.

I was dressed but somehow felt bare.

I was about to step out of the room and go downstairs when Madame arrived and instantly eyed me. Shetskedas she came to stop before me and lifted a lock of my long brown hair.

“This won’t do. Master requested your hair up and out of the way.”

Out of the way for what, exactly?

She said it so matter-of-factly that I was too stunned to speak and just stood there as she expertly tied my hair into a chignon at the crown of my head.

With a few more fusses to my dress, and after she applied another generous swipe of red lipstick to my lips, she ushered me out of the room.

I felt as if I were in a fog as we descended the long, ornate staircase and I was led into the grand dining room.

The table sat in the center of the room, long and lavishly dressed with candelabras lit, crystal and porcelain dishware, and large, dome-covered silver platters hiding the food underneath.

There were bowls of fresh fruit, cut cheeses, freshly baked rolls, squares of butter on tiny gold-leaf plates, and wine goblets sat at the place settings.

The fireplace mantel was grand, double my size in height and width, a fire intimately crackling and throwing light and shadow throughout the entire room. The crystal chandelier that hung above the table cast prisms of rainbows across the room.

This certainly hadn’t been what I envisioned of the Beast’s home. I’d pictured dank and dark living quarters, mold-infested walls, and steel-barred cells I’d call home.

I hadn’t expected such… beauty.

Maybe the rumors I’d heard of my new husband were false? Maybe he wasn’t some ugly, horrid Beast that I’d have to sleep with. Maybe he was a gorgeous prince with flowing golden locks and gentle blue eyes who wanted us to get to know each other before we consummated the marriage.

“Master will be here momentarily. Per his request, dinner and wine are already set and waiting. Staff have been sent away for the evening.”

My throat once again tightened at the prospect of being alone with him, my anxiety filling every recess of my body.

I knew the moment Madame had left, when everyone was cleared out of the castle. Because I felt an instant, sudden hollowness surrounding me to the point it was almost crushing.