Violet_167

Isabella Beaumont figured she was making a smart, if desperate, trade: her freedom in exchange for marrying the dreaded Duke Alaric Thorne. 
Sure, the guy had a reputation darker than a moonless night, whispered about in every corner of the kingdom, but it was just a contract, right? A way to escape a brutal past that had literally left its mark on her face. 
She wasn’t expecting warmth, and definitely not passion. But then Alaric, this formidable, feared man, starts acting… protective. His unexpected kindness will make her want to throw away her protective mask and actually fall for the man who was supposed to be just her ticket to freedom. 
Just as Isabella starts believing she might actually deserve happiness, everything begins falling apart around them.
With the villains on the loose, old wounds being ripped open, and everyone’s true colors showing, is this sudden, fierce love strong enough to survive the storm? Or will the darkness from their pasts and the deadly games shatter everything they’re starting to build?

The Masked Duchess

I stared at the faded ink, my fingertips hovering over the page as if touching it might burn me. The Beaumont family ledger confirmed everything – this nightmare was real. A generational debt, paid in daughters.


"Once a generation," I whispered, my voice barely audible in the heavy silence of Alaric's study. "A daughter of the blood."


Alaric stood beside me, his face carved from stone as he re-read the damning words. The muscle in his jaw twitched with barely contained fury.


"House of Corvus," he muttered. "Another name for the Blackwoods. Corvus – Latin for raven."


I traced the brittle page with my finger, following the faded script. "A marriage alliance forged in shadow. What kind of family trades their daughters like cattle?"


"A desperate one," Alaric replied, his voice tight with disgust. "Your ancestors sold their future to save themselves."


Chapter 116 - The Price of Blood, A Mother's Sacrifice?