MY DEBT IS PAID IN SHAME. I was an heir to a legacy of steel. Now I am a line item on Halle Adams's balance sheet. My family name is a memory. My dignity is a luxury I can no longer afford. She did not want my coin. She wanted my soul. She stripped away my rough wool and replaced it with the rustle of lace. She traded my pride for the bite of a corset. Every mistake earns me a seat at her bench. The sting of her brush teaches me the grace of a servant. I polish my own family's silver while dressed in the finery of a fragile thing. I watched her burn my suits and my past. There is a traitorous thrill in this total ruin. The more she breaks me, the more I crave the weight of her command. I am no longer a man of status. I am her beautiful, broken ornament. I am her eternal property.