I Am Your Daughter!

Chapter 1

I was born through a political marriage. In an effort to retain their power over the Chatia Dukedom, my grandparents arranged the marriage of my father, Evan Shaw, their only son, with the Emperor's cousin, Princess Helen Navarro.

The marriage did not last long as my father soon decided to elope with a merchant's daughter, abandoning both his family and his duties as the next duke. On paper, they were still legally wed as mother refused to appeal for an annulment, something that requires the authorisation of the Emperor. As my mother had married into the Shaw family, she inherited the Duchess title and thus, took over the Dukedom.

I was not taught to hate my father as mother loved him. She wanted to believe that the man she married would realise his wrongs and come back. She spent years, often tracking him down and trying to persuade him to leave the commoner and take back his place as the Duke. I consider my mother a smart woman but when it came to the faith she had in my father, she was a love-struck fool. It would be a lie if I said I did not resent him.

Especially when it has only been a week since my mother's passing, and that same duty abandoning father, is currently in the entry of the estate shouting out orders to the servants of ducal household as if he had never left the mansion for 16 years.

"How crude..." I could hear Gina mutter with annoyance as she stared from my window at the man she would soon be required to call master.

A knock on the door, startled Gina and she hurriedly stepped away from the window to open the door. It was Clement. The old butler gave a small reply as I signalled for him to enter.

"Lunch will be served in a few moments, milady. Lady Emily and Lady Angele are already in the dining area. They are waiting for you and the Duke to join them. The Duke will be on his way and I am here to escort you."

I sneaked a glance at the clock and noted that it was an earlier notice than I am used too. An hour earlier to be precise. I usually had a later lunch because my morning would drag on with all the work mother was doing, I would purposely eat later in the day to match our timing. If mother was too busy to have lunch with me, I would not be eating in the dining room as the room was too vast, too empty to dine alone.

I frowned at the thought of the two women waiting for me. I am not used to this. Having a meal with other people was new. It had always been just me and mother. While mother was always busy with work, it was normal for me to dine alone.

I followed the head butler immediately. They were already waiting, which meant the kitchen staff had already prepared the table. It wasn't polite to leave them waiting for too long.

Before I knew it, we had arrived at the entrance of the dining room and I could see my father who was also hurriedly making his way over. His brows furrowed at the sight of me. I controlled my face. It would do no good to react from just his facial expression. I entered first while Clement stood by, holding the doors and waited for the Duke to enter.

As soon as I entered the dining room, I could see the two ladies sitting on one side of the table. Their faces lit up with a smile as their eyes met mine. I responded with a nod and moved to the other side of the table. One of the butlers who were standing near the walls approached immediately, pulled out my chair and left after confirming that I was comfortably seated. Father, who came in right after me, was given the same treatment by Clement as he sat at the head of the table between me and Lady Emily. The two ladies in front of me stared curiously as we both took our seats.

The table was filled with a sumptuous feast and I could see that both the ladies were wide eyed in awe at the spread. They were also eyeing both the silver tableware as well as the servants surrounding us.