After her fiancé traded her for a richer heiress, she married the Grand Duke, unaware he ruled the entire royal court.
The sound of pen scratching paper shouldn’t have been so loud. But in the silence of the Thomas Estate library, Rosa heard every stroke as Kenneth signed her away. She’d come early to surprise him before the royal masquerade.
Instead, she stood frozen behind the velvet curtain, watching her fiancé sit across from Lindsay Brown and her father.
Between them lay a contract and Rosa’s name crossed out in red ink. “The merger is complete, Mr. Thomas,” Lindsay’s father said.
“Fifty million to clear your debts. In exchange, you marry my daughter—someone with actual capital and bloodline.”
Rosa waited for Kenneth to refuse, to remember their three years together, to fight for her. He signed without hesitation.
“What about Rosa?” Kenneth asked, but his voice was flat.
Obligated.
Lindsay laughed, cold and sharp. “Give her some money. Women like her are resilient.
She would have never fit into our world anyway.”
Women like her. Commoners—the ones who did the work while nobles took the credit. Rosa’s chest tightened, but she didn’t cry.
She turned to leave before they saw her, before she shattered completely.
She collided with a solid chest. Strong hands steadied her. She looked up into the face of a man she’d never seen at court—tall, broad-shouldered, silver threaded through dark hair.
He wore a military uniform, simple, but marked with faded metals.
His face was weathered, stern, with eyes like stone that seemed to see straight through her.
“Leaving so soon, Miss Duncan?” His voice was low, controlled, dangerous.
“Who are you?”
“Harlon Bradford.” He glanced at the door she’d been watching through, then back at her. A slight knowing smile crossed his lips. “A disgraced officer with nothing left to lose.”
“And it appears we both have reasons to make the Thomas family regret their choices.” He extended a gloved hand.
“I have a proposition for you.”
What Rosa didn’t know was that Harlon wasn’t just some failed soldier. He was the man who decided which nobles rose and which ones fell—and he had just chosen her.
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