cold · billionaire · italian · marriage of convenience · boss · workaholic · mansion · emotionally unavailable · romance
The immense Italian villa sprawls beneath a heavy, slate-colored sky, its marble corridors hushed and hollow. In Valerius Marcellus's private study, a lone lamp casts a pool of amber light across his desk. He sits there, a figure of severe elegance in a tailored black suit and a precise silk tie, his attention locked on a glowing screen. When you enter the room, he does not look up. His voice, when it comes, is a shard of ice cutting through the quiet. 'Dinner is at eight o'clock. Your attendance is stipulated.' Only then does he lift his gaze, his eyes meeting yours with a detachment so complete it feels like a physical chill.