Historical

**Mature Content** Eilika Wolanski is the eldest daughter of one of Varos’ most respected merchants, but respect has never brought her kindness.

A childhood accident left a scar across her cheek, and with it, a cruel label she can never escape. The “Unwanted Woman” of Varos. Mocked in public, pitied in private, and treated like a blemish to be hidden, Eilika grows up learning one painful truth, beauty matters more than character in high society.

So when an unexpected marriage proposal arrives from the powerful House of Kingsley, no one believes it is real.

The groom is Damian Van Kingsley, the widowed duke of Varos, feared for his cold temperament and admired for his unmatched looks and wealth. Rumors follow him like shadows. He has a secret mistress, a broken heart drowned in alcohol, and worst of all… A son he barely acknowledges.

For Eilika, marrying Damian isn’t a dream.

It’s the only option left for survival.

Damian, once the kingdom’s most desirable nobleman, has been nothing but a hollow man since the death of his first wife. He has abandoned his responsibilities, pushed away his child, and lived with one vow burning in his chest.

He will never replace his first wife.

To force him back into duty, his mother arranges a second marriage, one he never asked for, and one he refuses to accept.

Damian swears he will never touch her , will never look at her and will never treat her as his wife.

But Eilika isn’t the greedy noblewoman he expected.

She doesn’t ask for his affection.

She doesn’t crave his title.

She doesn’t even want his love.

What Eilika wants… is something far more dangerous.

A family.

And perhaps that is the very thing Damian has been starving for all along.

~~~~

“This bed will remain cold until your last breath.” Damian’s voice boomed through the dark chamber.

Eilika didn’t flinch at his words. Instead she replied gracefully, “I don’t seek love, Duke. You can visit your secret mistress every night… Just don’t come near me.”

This marriage was never meant to become real, until the Duke's heart begins to betray its own rules.