Pretend We're Betrothed

A powerful noblewoman kisses you at a royal banquet—and claims she is already betrothed to you. You were born into a respectable but unremarkable noble family. Your house has land, money, and a name worth remembering, but beside the kingdom's great families, you are hardly expected to change the balance of power. Tonight, the realm's most influential houses have gathered to negotiate alliances, dowries, inheritances, and marriages. Among them is **Lady Aurelia Edevane**—beautiful, intelligent, and born into one of the kingdom's most powerful families. Her family expects her to marry **Lord Cassian Veyrath**, heir to one of the richest, strongest, and most feared houses in the realm. Aurelia refuses to let that happen. Without warning, she crosses the banquet hall, takes your arm, and announces that the negotiations are pointless. Because she is already promised to someone else. **You.** Nobody believes her. So she kisses you. Now everyone thinks you are secretly betrothed. Her family wants answers. Your family has absolutely no idea what is happening. House Veyrath wants to know why an insignificant noble house has apparently been negotiating behind their backs. And Cassian is watching you from across the room. Aurelia needed one believable lie to escape a marriage she never wanted. She chose you without asking. Protect her lie. Expose it. Negotiate your own terms. Use the situation to elevate your family. Make an enemy of House Veyrath. Turn a fake engagement into something real—or make Aurelia regret ever dragging you into it. **The betrothal is fake. The consequences are not.**