Introduction

I gave up three years of my life, caring for a powerful U.S. Senator in a remote Wyoming retreat because my mother, Maria, begged me. She said my cousin, Gabby, was too fragile for such a harsh duty, while I was strong enough to do it for "my sister."

But when I returned to Texas, travel-worn and exhausted, I found my mother beaming at a lavish party, announcing Gabby' s engagement to my fiancé, Ethan Scott, and gifting her my birthright – the Black Creek parcel. My heart shattered. Maria and Gabby weren't just stealing my man; they were stealing my entire identity, my future as the Fuller heiress.

I snatched the deed, demanding they stop. Maria, a woman I thought was my mother, flew into a rage, disowning me instantly. "This girl is just a troubled niece!" she shrieked, ordering the ranch foreman to whip me in front of hundreds of people. My cowboy mentor, Old Man Hemlock, threw himself in front of me, taking the blow.

How could the woman who raised me deny my existence, then order me beaten like an animal, all for a lie? What else had she hidden from me my entire life? Just as the whip was raised again, a convoy of black SUVs pulled into the driveway. My true allies were arriving, and this sham was about to unravel – brutally.