Tough Officer Dotes on His Sweet Wife
Celeste Whitmore, the pampered only daughter of the Whitmore family, is porcelain-skinned, soft, and adorably naive—basically a living snow-skin dumpling.
Miranda Ashford, the Whitmores’ adopted daughter, always puts on a gentle, watery smile while hiding a bellyful of schemes.
The two girls are betrothed at the same time—to the two brothers of the Thornton family.
Eldest brother Gabriel Thornton is refined and elegant, the acknowledged rising star destined to become a commander.
Second brother Wesley Thornton is a dark-skinned, rough-hewn giant at 190 cm, his face all hard angles; rumor says he’ll soon die a heroic death.
Miranda has long since done her homework. She secretly swaps fiancés, snatches Gabriel for herself, and leaves the “short-lived brute” Wesley to Celeste.
Just then the Whitmore parents are placed under investigation. Eager to settle their daughters before being sent down, they hustle the girls onto military trucks bound for the frontier to join their intended husbands.
Clueless Celeste boards the truck with Miranda. Only when they reach the camp does reality hit:
Miranda spots the handsome, gentle Gabriel, loops her arm through his, and flounces off with a sweet smile—leaving Celeste face-to-face with a towering, pitch-black, ferocious-looking roughneck.
That roughneck is Wesley Thornton. His uniform only makes him look taller and scarier.
In the same dependents’ compound, Celeste is constantly compared to Miranda:
“Look how gentle Miranda is—perfect match for Commander Thornton!”
“Miss Celeste is spoiled rotten, and Wesley’s a brute; their life will be a circus.”
Celeste thinks so too. Raised in cotton wool, how can she endure Wesley’s heavy-handed ways—especially at night, when the man’s passion is more than she can take!
Then one day a letter arrives from her parents, every word full of concern:
“Celeste, how are you and Gabriel Thornton? He has a mild temper; he should be taking good care of you…”
Celeste freezes mid-read, four words echoing in her skull: I’m so screwed!
She married the wrong room—wrong husband?
That night she storms up to Wesley and slaps the letter onto his chest, cheeks puffed, voice fierce:
“Wesley Thornton, we messed this up—let’s divorce! I’m going to Gabriel Thornton!”
The moment the words leave her mouth Wesley’s face darkens. He pins her against the wall, voice savage yet edged with panic:
“I knew it—you’ve always liked my pretty-boy brother, haven’t you?”
He leans in, breath scalding, eyes domineering and possessive.
“Want a swap? Not a chance! You stepped through my door, you’re mine—don’t even dream of running for the rest of your life!”
A snow-dumpling wife delivered right to him—why on earth would he let her go?
The whole compound is still waiting for Celeste and Wesley to crash and burn.
Instead, they watch the couple shamelessly, sickeningly sweet—the rough officer spoils his snow-dumpling princess rotten.
Meanwhile, news drifts in: Miranda and Gabriel are getting divorced.
Everyone is dumbfounded: this wasn’t the script!
Turns out the one truly pampered to the heavens was always the delicate, darling Celeste Whitmore.
Marriage