"If you want your mother’s life spared, you’ll do exactly as you’re told."

Erica, the governess’s daughter, is forced, under threat, to marry in place of the young lady she serves.

Even worse, the man she’s to wed is the Grand Duke of the rival Aclif house.

"What if I get hated and miss treated there too?"

Discovery means death. Terrified but resolute, Erica steels herself to endure every insult, every humiliation, and every cruelty, for the day she can be reunited with her mother.

But to her surprise, life as the fake bride is far more tender, and far sweeter, than she ever imagined.