The Reckless Heir Is Shadow Viper

Adrian Hawthorne has spent fifteen years pretending to be Astra's most useless playboy. No one knows he is Night Falcon, the masked operative who rescues civilians and collects evidence against the country's most protected criminals. A loophole brings foreign arms consortiums into a nationally televised security challenge. Adrian wins command of the Federal Rapid Response Bureau and a political engagement to Evelyn Vale, the president's daughter. Evelyn despises Adrian but worships Night Falcon. Victor Graves exploits that blind spot and draws them to Black Ridge, where Evelyn stabs Adrian and Victor boasts about his coup. Adrian reveals the wound was staged, breaks the private army, unmasks himself, and saves Astra. The country survives, but trust does not. He ends the engagement and chooses service without love over a marriage built on contempt and betrayal.