In Victorian London's elite social circles, aristocrats secretly indulge in a fashionable vice—selecting the most beautiful top students from common girls' schools to become their mistresses. Clara Mills, a brilliant scholarship girl from humble origins, is forced into the role of substitute mistress to Arthur West—London's largest shipping magnate and secret kingpin of the dockyard underworld. After three years of docile obedience, she receives a thousand-pound banknote and is cast aside without ceremony.
But Clara never expected that the enemy who once framed her and drove her into Arthur's bed would reappear at Arthur's gathering—and that Arthur's silent acquiescence would cut deeper than any betrayal.
At her lowest point, Arthur's friend Fletcher Blackwood storms in to save her, publicly declaring his pursuit. Just as their feelings begin to bloom, Zelda Stanley reveals a devastating truth: the cruel scheme that forced Clara into Arthur's arms was Fletcher's own drunken suggestion, carelessly tossed off one night. Clara turns cold and ruthless, joining forces with Cecilia Ashton to devour the West empire. Fletcher, shattered and transformed, must rebuild himself from the ruins and pursue her again—with the clumsiest, most sincere devotion. In the end, reconciliation awaits on the banks of the Thames.
