I took Phoebe as my ward to secure Rochester Hall against the ruin her recklessness invited. The task required firm discipline from the start, a boundary I enforced without question.
Her defiance masks the hunger for the control I can impose, the one that would expose every vulnerability I have hidden. Yet her sharp resistance only draws me closer to the line I swore never to cross.
Now the registry lies open on the desk, her fingers resting near mine as the scent of old paper fills the room. The scar beneath my cravat burns with the knowledge of what she needs. I must decide whether to give the order that will bind her to me in ways no guardianship allows.
