The Duke's Audit

He deals in cold hard facts. She's the greatest lie he's ever told. Julian Thorne, the "Ice Duke" of Ashworth, is a man of absolute order. In a world of gambling debts and loose morals, Julian governs his life and his vast Yorkshire estate with the clinical precision of an auditor. But when a shadow from his past threatens to liquidate his family's reputation, he needs more than a ledger to save it-he needs a miracle. Or a very talented thief. Enter Elara Vance: the "Silver Moth" of the London docks. Caught red-handed with her hand in a ducal safe, Elara is offered an impossible contract: pose as the refined, invisible Duchess of Ashworth for one month to distract the High Chancellor, or face the gallows. It's a high-stakes heist of social engineering, governed by a strict "No-Touch" clause and a set of non-negotiable administrative protocols. The audit of a lifetime is about to begin. As Elara transforms from a gritty street-survivor into a sparkling diamond of the Ton, the social friction between the rigid Duke and his rebellious "asset" begins to generate a dangerous heat. Between waltzing through vipers at the Masquerade and picking the locks on family secrets, the line between the performance and the passion starts to blur. When Julian's predatory uncle launches a counter-audit to expose Elara's criminal past, the couple must decide: is their marriage just a clever entry in a ledger, or is the "Silver Moth" the only person who can truly unlock the Ice Duke's heart?