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“It benefits all of us,” he said simply.

Yvette took a step back, needing space to think. Her mind was a whirlwind of emotions—anger, frustration, and despair. She had wanted a quiet life for herself, free from the demands of society. She had willed herself to make it happen, and now all her efforts were torn away in an instant.

However, deep down, she knew the duke was right. If she refused, the consequences would ripple outward, affecting not just her but the people she cared about most.

The silence stretched on, heavy with unspoken tension.

“I will need time to consider,” she finally said.

The duke inclined his head, his face impassive. “There is no time to consider, my lady,” he said. “Ye must decide here, or this duel will happen.” His hand sat atop his pistol, ready to pull it out at any given time.

“Yvette, you don’t have to do this.” Edward’s voice broke the tense gaze between them, filled with worry and an undeniable desperation as he looked at her, hoping she would refuse.

He turned toward the Duke of Braemore, eyes wide.

“Surely there must be another way?” he asked again, his tone heavy with concern.

With a steely gaze, the duke finally spoke, his voice cold and resolute.

“Ye think there’s another way? If there were, would I be standing here asking her to marry me?” His words were direct, every syllable sharp, his patience clearly thinning. He held their gazes, regarding them before speaking again.

“I’ll make it clear to society that this marriage ends the scandal. With ye as my wife, no one will question our families’ unity. The rumors about Fiona will lose their weight, and thetonwill see that there’s no ill will between us. And, more importantly, no one will ostracize our families.”

Yvette’s heart tightened in her chest. She felt trapped once again, caught between the harshness of society’s demands and the pain of the past. The memories of her father’s rejection of her—the cruelty of her years at St. Catherine’s—pressed against her chest, suffocating her.

Her hands trembled, and she clasped them together to steady herself, fighting the rising panic in her chest.

“Ye must marry me,” Killian declared with an unwavering tone.

Yvette froze, her heart stuttering.

Her breath caught in her throat. She could feel the weight of his gaze, and for a moment, everything seemed to blur around her.

She finally released a long, defeated sigh, her shoulders sinking as the weight of her decision became clear. She turned to Edward, and her gaze softened for just a moment. His concern was palpable, but there was nothing he could do to change the outcome.

“I will,” she said simply.

Edward’s eyes widened in shock. “Yvette?—”

He stepped toward her, but she gently shook her head, signaling him to stop.

She knew this was the only option; the only way to ensure their families’ futures. And though it tore her heart to do so, she could not let this scandal drag down those who had no part in it.

Turning to the duke, Yvette’s expression hardened. She met his gaze, her heart sinking. She knew he was right. Thetonwould never see this as anything but a strategic union, but that didn’t change the fact that their families’ fates were tied to it.

“I will marry you,” she said more clearly this time—for she had made her choice.

CHAPTER 3

“How did you know about the duel?” Edward asked, his voice filled with confusion and a trace of concern as he dismounted his horse.

He stood for a moment, watching Yvette, who was already turning away from him as she dismounted her horse, her feet landing on the ground with a soft thud.

Nevertheless, her mind was a thousand miles away.

The moment she had set foot in the field earlier, she had been consumed by the urgency to stop her brother from making a fatal mistake. But now that the duel was averted, she found herself locked in a new dilemma—engaged to a duke, a man whose mind she could not read, whose intentions seemed as unclear as the sky above them.

Edward, walking beside her, glanced at her, brow furrowed. “Sister? Are you all right?”