[Content Notice: This story contains mature themes]
"You said you had no interest in women—you never told me you loved men!" Rosamund’s voice cracked, tears streaking her cheeks as she backed away, the weight of betrayal crushing her breath.
Harold’s gaze didn’t waver. "How much clearer did you need me to be?" He stepped closer, his hand brushing her face with a tenderness that now felt like a lie. "I told you I had no desire for women. That I only agreed to this marriage for an heir. Society demanded, that I must have a companion and an heir. I never promised you love." His hand fell, but his hazel eyes pinned her in place. "That secret was mine to bury. You walked into this marriage with your eyes open."
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Rosamund, the overlooked third daughter of the Earl of Warwick, thought she’d escaped her fate when the Duke of Somerset rescued her from ruin. After blinding the Marquess’s son, William, in defence for a maid, she became entangled in a scandal that left her parents with no choice but to accept his marriage proposal. But on the brink of being assaulted by her own betrothed, salvation came in the form of Harold—cold, calculating, and disarmingly honest.
Their marriage was never meant to be a love story. Harold made his terms clear: a political alliance, an heir, and nothing more. Yet Rosamund, desperate for solace in her gilded cage, dared to hope for warmth. Until the truth shattered her—Harold’s heart belonged to another, and she was trapped in a marriage of devastating loneliness.
Now, Rosamund must confront the bitter reality: will Harold ever let her past his walls, or is she doomed to a life of hollow duty, forever bound to a man who cannot love her, remain married to void?