💔 THE DUKE POSED AS A SERVANT TO TEST HIS ARRANGED BRIDE— WHAT SHE TOLD HIM CHANGED EVERYTHING

Описание: 💔 THE DUKE POSED AS A SERVANT TO TEST HIS ARRANGED BRIDE—WHAT SHE TOLD HIM CHANGED EVERYTHING - LOVELY HISTORY

Eleanor Ashworth had six weeks before the creditors seized everything. Her father's gambling debts had destroyed their family fortune, and the only solution was an arranged marriage to the Duke of Greystone—a man she'd never met who needed an heir and was willing to pay handsomely for a well-bred wife. 💍
It was a business transaction. Nothing more. Eleanor had already learned the hard way not to trust men's declarations of love—two years ago, she'd overheard her fiancé laughing with friends about how tedious courting her had been, how he'd only proposed to secure her father's business connections. She'd ended things first, but the damage was done. Now she trusted contracts, not hearts. 💔

Then James Carter arrived at Ashworth Hall. The Duke had sent his steward's assistant to organize estate records before the wedding, and Eleanor found herself drawn to the quiet servant with surprisingly refined speech and educated opinions. They discussed poetry in the library, debated philosophy over ledgers, shared vulnerabilities she'd never intended to reveal to anyone. ⚡

James listened when she spoke about her past betrayal, understood when she admitted she'd given up on love entirely, seemed to see her as a person rather than a strategic asset. And Eleanor began to hope—dangerous, foolish hope—that maybe not all men were performers, that maybe this kind servant represented something genuine in a world full of calculated deceptions. ✨

Three weeks later, the Duke of Greystone was scheduled to arrive for their first meeting. James Carter was leaving that evening to return to his master's estate. Eleanor went to thank him for his kindness—

And watched him slide a gold signet ring bearing the ducal crest onto his finger. 👑
"My name is William Hartwell," he said quietly. "I am the Duke of Greystone. I came here in disguise because I wanted to observe your character before committing to our marriage." 💔
Everything Eleanor had shared—her fears, her past humiliation, her cynicism about men who pretended interest while actually evaluating her worth—she'd revealed it all to the very man who'd been testing whether she met his standards. The servant she'd begun to trust was the Duke who'd been judging her all along. ⚡

The betrayal was absolute. But her family's debts remained, and refusing the marriage meant losing everything. So Eleanor agreed to proceed—on one condition. Their marriage would be exactly the cold transaction she'd originally expected. No intimacy. No friendship. No trust. Just duty. 🥀

What she didn't expect was the silver key he gave her the night before their wedding, or the patient consistency he showed during three months of her maintained anger, or the afternoon she finally used that key and found him crying over his late wife's journals in a pavilion no one had entered for seven years. 💕

Visuals are AI-assisted artistic recreations for storytelling purposes.

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