The Eleventh Hour Chance
She was a pawn in a political game, nothing more. Her father, a man who despised her very existence, sold her off to the cold-blooded Duke in a marriage of convenience. Rumors painted her husband as a ruthless, unfeeling monster—a man to be feared, not loved. But she had long accepted her fate. After all, no one had ever cared for her, so why should her marriage be any different?
Until her father, the man who abandoned her, barged into her life.
“You are my daughter, and I have every right to take you back!” he declared, his once cold, dismissive eyes now brimming with something unrecognizable. Concern? Care? It was impossible. The man who hated her, who had cast her aside, now suddenly demanded her return. Why?
As if that wasn’t enough, her aloof husband—known for his icy demeanor and ruthless efficiency—began to act… differently. The cold, unfeeling Duke she had resigned herself to live with seemed to harbor a warmth she couldn’t reconcile with the rumors that had defined him.
“Do you really believe everything they say about me?” he asked, his piercing gaze softening for just a moment, leaving her speechless.
Caught between a father whose motives are shrouded in mystery and a husband who defies every expectation, she finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew. Is her father’s sudden concern genuine, or is he playing yet another game? And what secrets lie behind the Duke’s impenetrable mask?
In a web of lies, power, and buried truths, she must decide who to trust—if anyone at all. Could there be more to her fate than just being a pawn? Or will she be swept away by the tides of those who seek to control her?
