Valancy lay there in bed, her heart heavy with the weight of unfulfilled dreams and unrealized hopes. She knew that the world around her, including her own family, saw her as a failure simply because she had not found a man to marry. The thought of spending her life in solitude, with no one to love her or desire her, was a crushing reality that threatened to suffocate her very soul. And so, as she wiped away the tears that escaped from her eyes, Valancy made a silent vow to herself that she...