Irene, eldest daughter of the Leyton family, is forced to marry disabled Crown Prince Edward in a bargain that gives her stepsister to Prince Lucian and restores her mother’s full dowry plus fifty gold bars. After the betrothal, she learns Lucian and her stepsister are secret lovers and she is merely their decoy. Lucian joins Austin to launch a coup, but Edward has recovered and commands loyal nobles to crush the revolt; Lucian is locked away for life in the Black Tower while Edward takes the crown. Ten years later, Irene returns with her child as promised and reunites with King Edward for a life together.
