The First Night With the Duke — Chapter 21

Well, folks, if you thought things were finally looking up in The First Night With the Duke: Chapter 21, think again! 📉 Readers are in a whirlwind of emotions after this one, with many feeling like everything just "went south."

The big debate? The Duke's furious reaction to our FL, Ripley, faking an injury. On one hand, many readers *get* why he's mad – it played with his trauma and feelings. Some even said, "she rlly fucked up" and "she deserves this" for lying! 😬

But hold up! A massive chunk of the comments are pointing out the Duke's own "red flag" behavior. He *did* threaten her with death and slavery to force this marriage! So, while Ripley's fake injury wasn't ideal, many feel she was desperate and cornered. As one reader put it, "he got some nerve getting mad at her for 'tricking him' when he was the one making her think they had sex so he could trick and threaten her into marriage... bruh." 🚩

There's a strong wish for Ripley to just *tell him the truth* about why she did it, instead of freezing up. Everyone's hoping these two can finally learn to communicate, because this heartache is *real*! 💔