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

The garden basked in the golden glow of sunset, painting everything in warm amber hues. I remained seated on the bench, the porcelain mask resting in my lap like a relic from another lifetime. Bella still nestled against my side, her young face alight with wonder.


"And that's how your grandfather and I found our way to each other," I finished, smoothing a wayward curl from her forehead.


"That's the most beautiful story I've ever heard," Bella declared with the passionate conviction only an eight-year-old could muster. "Even better than the ones in my storybooks."


Alaric chuckled beside me, the sound deep and comforting after all these years. "The best stories are often the true ones, little one."


"Did you really think Grandmama was beautiful the very first time you saw her?" Bella asked, turning her penetrating gaze to her grandfather. "Even with the mask?"


Chapter 166 - Echoes of the Past, Promises of Tomorrow