His Shield, Her Secret Empire

“I fell for Kade Livingston, the campus king. To protect his family's reputation, he asked me to be his "shield," making me endure vicious bullying and even a kidnapping as a supposed test of my love. I endured it all, until his fragile stepsister, Dani, stole my most personal work-a photography series honoring my late mother. She didn't just steal it; she twisted my art into a grotesque, pornographic mockery of her memory. When I tried to expose her, Kade destroyed all my evidence. He then had me kidnapped and beaten, leaving me for dead, all to protect his stepsister's crime and hide the twisted nature of their bond. Lying bruised in a hospital bed, I finally understood. He never loved me. I was just a disposable pawn in his family's sick game. My disguise as a plain student, meant to keep me safe, had only made me a target for her jealousy. But they made one fatal mistake. They thought they were destroying Holly Erickson, a quiet, unremarkable girl. They had no idea they were messing with K.B. Barry, the secretly world-famous author with the power to ruin them all. Today, at the photography competition where they plan to celebrate their crime, I will make my first-ever public appearance and show them what happens when you break a queen.”