From Unwanted Ward To Unattainable Queen

I was the orphan Marcus Thorne took in. He was my guardian, my savior, and the man I foolishly fell in love with.

But when he caught me sketching his portrait, he didn't see devotion. He saw a mess.

He called my feelings "inappropriate" and told his fiancée I was just a "minor household issue" before shipping me off to Italy to get rid of me.

He thought I would pine for him. Instead, I erased him.

I blocked his number, deleted his photos, and sent him a check for every single cent he spent on me with two words: *Debt paid.*

Three years later, Marcus showed up in Florence. He looked wrecked, desperate, and furious that his "property" had walked away.

He tried to order me home. He tried to claim he finally loved me.

He expected the girl who used to worship him to fall into his arms.

But I looked at the man who broke my heart and felt absolutely nothing.

"You don't love me, Marcus," I said, stepping back into the arms of a man who actually valued me.

"You just hate losing."

And for the first time, I watched him crumble while I walked away.