General Zinnia comes home from a victorious northern campaign expecting her family's welcome. Instead, a girl she doesn't recognize is wearing a gown Zinnia sewed herself and answering to her daughter's name. The servants bow, her husband Xander smiles, and nothing about the house feels like hers.
Listening at the study window, Zinnia learns the truth: the impostor is her stepsister Zara's child, and her real daughter Quinn was crippled and sent to slave at the Imperial Farm. The pair also plan to claim Zinnia's military victories and her estate as their own. She says nothing yet, and starts gathering what she needs to take it all back.
