The Duke And I

When someone needs an enormous amount of money, what can they do to get it? Sell a kidney? (Yeah, that's an appropriate option) However, I became a game tester. All I have to do is to make sure that the main character and male lead will reach their happy ending. Sweet! Easy Money! What if the game was harder than I thought? And what's this hidden task?! Do I really have to reach my own happy ending too?!

Skandal istana memaksa Lady Alize Deschanel menikah dengan musuh lama keluarganya, Duke Corentine de Mably, yang menjanjikan perceraian setelah ia membantunya membuka rahasia setengah abad lalu. Namun ketika kebenaran itu mulai terungkap dan mengancam menghancurkan salah satu keluarga mereka, Alize harus memilih—menepati janjinya untuk pergi, atau mempertaruhkan hatinya pada pria yang sejak awal tak boleh ia cintai.

Mendapat perhatian dari Duke bukanlah suatu harapan yang muncul dalam benak seorang pelayan. Rosemary sama sekali tidak pernah memimpikan hal tersebut. Namun kenyataannya, Williams Russell, Duke of Wellington berhasil membuatnya kepanasan. Bukannya dia tidak tahu skandal sang Duke di kalangan bangsawan. Sebagian besar wanita bersedia menaikkan roknya dan menaiki tempat tidur pria itu. Haruskah dia akan menjadi salah satu wanita tersebut? Atau dia memiliki takdir lain yang menantinya.

"Pernikahan ini adalah hukuman bagimu yang datang dalam hidupku dan dengan lancang menggantikan posisi mendiang istriku!" Selama lima tahun, Alice Alexandria terkurung dalam pernikahan yang penuh penderitaan. Menjadi istri seorang Duke Allard Von Stein, pria dingin berstatus duda yang memiliki satu putra. Alice hanyalah seorang istri yang Allard paksa hidup di bawah bayangan-bayang mendiang istrinya. Semenjak kedatangan adik perempuan dari mantan mendiang istri pertama Allard, Alice semakin tersisih dan keberadaannya semakin tidak dianggap oleh suami dan putranya. Merasa tidak sanggup menahan kepahitan pernikahanya, Alice mengajukan permintaan perceraian pada suaminya. Namun, Allard menolak tegas permintaan cerai dari Alice. Akan tetapi, Alice tidak menyerah untuk melepaskan diri dari suaminya!

Aku mencintai suamiku, mengejarnya seperti anjing gila, menurutinya bagai budak rendahan. Tapi di hari aku tahu selingkuhannya tengah hamil anaknya dan ingin merebut posisiku sebagai Marchioness, selingkuhannya membunuhku. Namun, aku hidup kembali tepat di hari pernikahan kami. Tak ingin mengulang kesalahan yang sama, aku mengganti calon pengantin pria di hari itu juga! Sang Duke dari Utara, yang kabarnya tak ada wanita yang bisa mendekatinya, bersedia untuk menikahiku. Anehnya, semakin aku menjauh dari mantan suamiku, semakin dia mengejarku gila-gilaan! Tapi suami baruku memelukku dengan posesif, "Tak akan kubiarkan sampah ini menyentuh istriku, bahkan seujung helai rambut pun!"

Tili percaya pernikahannya dengan Theo, Duke of Greybone, sudah bahagia. Theo bersikap lembut dan perhatian, tidak pernah memperlakukannya dengan buruk. Tidak ada skandal—hanya kehidupan bangsawan yang tenang dan teratur. Hingga sebuah bayangan datang padanya. Serupa ilusi, memperlihatkan sisi Theo yang tidak seharusnya ada. Tili ingin menyangkalnya, namun satu per satu bayangan itu menjadi nyata—dan melukainya. Menolak membiarkan takdir berubah menjadi kehancuran, Tili memilih pergi lebih dulu. Namun mengapa Theo tak mau melepaskannya? Dan haruskah Tili menerima uluran tangan Caelan—seorang pangeran yang datang menawarkan bantuan, sementara ia tak tahu sandiwara apa yang sedang ia mainkan?

After dating for seven years, I proposed a hundred and one times to my boyfriend, Jason Brown. However, he always told me that he was not ready, rejecting my proposals. This continued to my 28th birthday. In his suit pocket, I found a ring box. Thinking he was about to propose to me, I was overjoyed. However, to my horror, I saw him going down on one knee to propose to his assistant, Marcella Hopkins. Right before my eyes, he placed the ring I had yearned for so long on her finger. When one of his buddies asked what he planned to do with me, Jason wrapped his arm around his new love and chuckled. "Dude, I don't think I can bring myself to marry a woman who wants to get married that badly. She's so needy. However, if I do get a second wife, I might consider her. After all, she is hopelessly in love with me." He was sure I would wait for him, and he even placed a bet with his friends that I would crash his wedding. However, on his wedding day, I never showed up. Moments before his wedding ceremony was about to start, he suddenly noticed me, fully dressed up in a wedding gown in a separate banquet hall. Seeing me about to marry someone else, he almost went crazy.

As each finger was cruelly broken, the agony that surged through her body revealed the truth—her nanny and maids had betrayed her long ago. When her sister confessed to carrying her husband's child, Miranda realized that their prior kindness had been nothing but an act in a sinister play. When her gentle husband, a man she had once loved, directed his new lover to claim her life, she understood she had been nothing more than a stepping stone to his ascent to power... Twenty years in this mortal world, and she was merely a puppet manipulated by others. Yet, fate, in its mercy, offered her a second chance. This time, it was her turn to consign those deceivers to hell! Although she returned only to exact vengeance, how did she unwittingly capture the interest of a powerful magnate this time around? Watching the delicate yet resilient girl, the Duke turned to his subordinate and said “Remove the filth that marred her eyes. Feed it to the dogs."

When I was seventeen, Cesare Cassano, the youngest son of the Cassano Family, saw me once—and that was it. He was hooked. At nineteen, he fought his way up and became the Don's chosen successor. At twenty-one, in front of the whole city, I said yes to Cesare's over-the-top proposal. Overnight, I became the woman every girl in Naples envied. Everybody knew the Cassano Don would do anything for me—anything—just to see me smile. And then three days later, at the billion-dollar wedding Cesare threw for me, livestreamed to the whole world, I fell off a cliff. Just like that, I was dead. Gone without a trace.

My billionaire dad chooses a husband for me. People claim that Sebastian Lambert is a fine gentleman who's absolutely in awe of me. He seems easy enough to deal with, so I agree to the marriage. The wedding is held at the biggest hotel my family owns. On the big day, as I push open the doors in my wedding dress, a bucket of foul-smelling blood comes crashing down on me. The scene inside is even more horrifying. What was supposed to be a pure and romantic ceremony is now decorated with giant spiders and cockroaches. Grotesque clown faces grin at me from the walls. At the altar, there's a black coffin. Sebastian's adoptive sister, Ruth Lambert, strolls over with a group of people. She covers her mouth in fake surprise as she remarks, "Oh my, Claudia, you look like a pathetic mutt right now!" Laughter erupts around me. Holding my anger back, I coldly reply, "All of you, get out." She crosses her arms, arrogantly looking down at me as if she's on some pedestal. "Come on, Claudia. Seb personally asked me to surprise you. I put in a lot of effort to decorate your little wedding. You're telling me to get out? I don't even get a 'thank you'? Do you need me to teach you some manners?" She signals to the people next to her, and two of them step forward, trying to force me to my knees. Stunned for a few seconds, I pull out my phone and call Sebastian. "Is this the so-called surprise you had your sister prepare for me? Forcing me to kneel before her?"