
Hope Nielsen never wanted marriage—only a daughter or son with her bloodline and the freedom to run her family’s market stalls in Harbor City. She picks a charming traveling consultant, seduces him, and walks away as soon as she gets what she needs. But the consultant isn’t who he seemed—he’s Elden Matsumoto, the cold, powerful Duke everyone whispers about. When Hope returns to Harbor City with the child a year later, a trafficking racket snatches the boy and drags her into the capital’s corridors of power. The rescuer is Elden—furious, possessed, and claiming the child as his heir. Will Hope barter away her independence to keep her son? Or will she force the Duke to play by her rules? Who really holds the power when love, lies, and law collide?

22 Chapters