Too Late, Mr. William, She's Free

Franklin William destroyed my father, then raised me as his ward. For ten years, I loved him, not as a guardian, but as the man who held my world in his hands.

On my 18th birthday, I confessed. He crushed me with five words.

"Love is a liability, Eliana."

His cruelty escalated. He got engaged to a ruthless socialite who publicly branded me his "pet project." He forced me to wear a cheap necklace I was allergic to, the metal burning my skin like a brand of shame. That night, he stumbled into my room, drunk, and violated me, whispering his fiancée's name.