Women don’t always act as the helpers or supporters in their relationships. Sometimes, the limelight is so much on them that they forget their significant others’ contributions.
Enter the story of Dustin Rhys and Dahlia Nicholson, his ungrateful partner, in An Understated Dominance novel. Dahlia divorces Dustin after her meteoric rise of success.
What will happen when Dahlia realizes Dustin is the man behind her success? Will she be thankful to him?
- Part 1: The Main Plots Of An Understated Dominance Novel
- Part 2: Meet The Characters Of An Understated Dominance
- Part 3: Some Analysis And Impressions Of An Understated Dominance Novel
- Part 4: Read A Novel On Dreame That Is Similar To An Understated Dominance
Part 1: The Main Plots Of An Understated Dominance Novel
The opening of An Understated Dominance novel is about Dahlia Nicholson filing a divorce from her husband, Dustin Rhys. At that point, Dahlia has already been the most desired woman in Swinton. Moreover, Dahlia’s net worth has reached more than one billion dollars.
However, Dahlia files the one-sided divorce letter not by herself. Instead, she sends another woman, whose name is Lyra. According to what I’ve read in An Understated Dominance novel, Lyra seems to be Dahlia’s secretary. Perhaps that’s why Lyra tells Dustin whatever Dahlia wants him to understand.
Dustin used to help Dahlia’s family out when the Nicholsons were indebted. Now that Dahlia has been such a famous figure, she no longer thinks of her husband as her life partner. Instead, Dustin is only a burden to her life.
Dahlia only appears in front of Dustin after her secretary leaves. There, she states she no longer needs Dustin’s “contributions”. Not only do they differ in how they see money and power, but at this point, these two soon-to-be ex-lovers are incompatible in so many ways!
To make matters worse, Dahlia plays with Dustin’s bitter feelings and disrespectfully divorces him on their wedding anniversary. Her ways of bribing Dustin with impressive amounts of money and expensive pieces of jewelry don’t make Dustin react. After all, Dustin is more interested in rare herbs and plants: Two crucial tools to do his jobs.
Even though Dahlia has estranged Dustin, he remains a kind-hearted person. He keeps on helping people in need, just like how he used to do when he wasn’t married to Dahlia. This ungrateful ex-wife needs to learn from her mistake!
As both parties feel saddened and puzzled about their decisions, how can Dahlia encounter her feelings? Can she self-introspect?
Part 2: Meet The Characters Of An Understated Dominance
Dustin Rhys
Dustin Rhys of An Understated Dominance might be a wealthy man who is hyper-focused in his job. However, he has a heart of gold. He is willing to risk his money and energy to help people in need. When it comes to his wife and closest ones, Dustin doesn’t hesitate to extend his help and ensure their comfort.
Impressive wealth and expensive things don’t attract Dustin as much as the tools he needs to do his job. Unfortunately, such positive traits attract ungrateful women like Dahlia, who only care for a man’s wealth, power, and influence.
Dahlia Nicholson
I would say Dahlia Nicholson of An Understated Dominance novel is one of the most ungrateful women ever. She inherits her mom’s victim-blaming and playing victim tendencies. So, I doubt the Nicholsons were that much indebted when I read how she manipulates Dustin and tricks him into marrying her.
Dahlia is only a female MC by formality, which means she doesn’t deserve to be referred to as the protagonist. Instead, she is more like a demon’s embodiment: She only cares about herself, even at the expense of other people. That’s why she seeks men with wealth, power, kindness, and supreme compassion like Dustin.
Part 3: Some Analysis And Impressions Of An Understated Dominance Novel
A worthy-to-read romance novel should have at least one MC in trouble. Most novels have damsel-in-distress-type female MCs, and the male MCs tend to be the super-kind-hearted prince charming-type of savior or a ruthless and powerful man who enjoys hurting his life partner.
Sometimes, if the male MC was the party in trouble, the trouble would involve the other parties’ perspectives about wealth and fame: Two crucial things that often determine a man’s pride. So, An Understated Dominance novel offers a brand-new perspective in the storyline.
The stories of An Understated Dominance are your answer to the twisted story-telling ways of a damsel-in-distress with her prince charming savior who turns out to be bitter and ruthless. That’s when you frame the story based on Dahlia’s POV instead of Dustin’s.
Dustin’s heart-of-gold nature is one of the most admirable elements in An Understated Dominance. It’s rare to witness a wealthy male MC, who is not interested in a person’s power if they can’t transform it into kindness. Yet, Dustin’s constant drive to act with kindness and authenticity makes me feel hopeful that such a male MC (and people in the real world) exist.
Is it true that Dahlia Nicholson’s family was that much indebted? I doubt it-that’s my answer from what I’ve observed in An Understated Dominance. If her family was that much indebted and she was the real victim, she wouldn’t have the nerve to hurt Dustin mentally and emotionally. She would also oppose her mother in mocking Dustin’s kindness.
Another part of my analysis of this novel lies in things I’ve thought about this novel’s story: Dahlia’s marriage with Dustin might be more than just an arranged marriage. She must’ve forced Dustin to marry her directly or indirectly through her assistants, mother, and other parties. So, I won’t be surprised if Dahlia’s acts toward Dustin are her ways of “punishing” Dustin for the sake of her enjoyment.
Part 4: Read A Novel On Dreame That Is Similar To An Understated Dominance
A marriage is more than just a union between two different souls. When we look at what happens in the world around us, we’ll see broader definitions of the word “marriage”. In some cases, people might use their marriage to punish other people. These parties might have their motives in punishing their significant others.
When we look at the main stories of An Understated Dominance, we might have an evident picture of Dahlia “punishing” Dustin by tricking him into a complicated marriage-and-divorce tie. She also makes things difficult for him by bringing up unrelated parties and refusing to meet Dustin in person before her “underlings”, which makes her a cowardly character.
So, have you wondered if you could find a similar novel to An Understated Dominance on Dreamer? Well, we have Royal Entanglement! This Dreame novel also has more than one wealthy character, like An Understated Dominance. Lady Sophia’s behavior toward Prince Alexander Einar is also similar to Dahlia’s to Dustin.
In Dreame’s Royal Entanglement, it all starts with Lady Sophia’s sister’s death. Since she thinks the Prince caused her sister’s death, she blames him and forces him into a marriage with her as his punishment. That way, Lady Sophia can steal the Prince’s happiness.
Lady Sophia of Royal Entanglement might sound as annoying as Dahlia Nicholson of An Understated Dominance. Yet, her motives are more transparent than the latter, and Dreame’s Royal Entanglement storylines are more clearly defined than An Understated Dominance. That’s why I recommend Royal Entanglement!
