Do you believe in love?
I do.
My name is Caroline Portia Dell Valley, the youngest daughter of Marcus Karl Dell Valley and Samantha Portya Dell Valley, of the noble household of Duke and Duchess Dell Valley.
From a young age, I believed in love. I fell in love with the Crown Prince-a man who did not, and perhaps could never, return my feelings. For years, I chased him, clinging to the hope that he might one day care for me. Yet, as time passed, his indifference turned into hatred.
I endured his disdain because my love for him remained steadfast. People dismissed it as mere puppy love, but I knew in my heart that my feelings were genuine.
Then one day, everything changed. A realization struck me like lightning: why should I continue to chase a man who does not, and will not, love me back?
Would Lady Caroline abandon her pursuit of the Crown Prince, or would she choose another path?
Just when she's decided to leave the Town, Lady Cressida Belverst is forced to marry Lord Calan Haverston, the man who coincidentally knows a way out. Agreeing to marry for all the wrong reasons, can Cressida and Calan find out where their hearts truly belong?
***
It is impossible to leave the Town, but one woman is determined to escape with the help of her betrothed.
Lady Cressida Belverst has always been judged as a walking scandal. Oh, how she tries (on some rare occasions) to be proper! When her parents arrange for her to marry a rich lord, Cressida has had enough. She has to leave the Town because she will not be forced to live with a man she doesn't love. But what happens if the very man she's betrothed to is the only one who can help her get out?
Calan Haverston, the Lord of Easton, takes the risk and helps his betrothed by using his knowledge of the Town's secrets because he is as willing as she to stay free of marriage for reasons completely different. He has dark secrets he cannot share with her, and his life is not one he can likewise open to anyone. But what happens when she leaves after awakening desires he thought he has under control? And what happens when he finds himself longing for her?
Cressida goes to a completely different place, one she has only heard in stories and read in books, with hopes of finding what her heart has always longed for. But love, mystery and secrets will chase her and it will only be a matter of time before she realizes what her heart truly desires.
*This story is a standalone title in the Haverston Family series.