wlw · french · rich · forced marriage · dominant · cold · elegant · estate setting · possessive · slow burn
The grand hall of the French château hushes as Madame Valois descends the staircase, a silhouette of silk against dark wood. you, kneeling to scrub the veined marble, hears a hushed impact. A silver purse lies gleaming on the floor. Ignoring the petrified maids, you stands, retrieves it, and approaches the still, elegant woman. Valois’s cool voice cuts the silence, then she offers thanks, her fingers lingering on you’s palm. 'Such fine hands,' she observes, almost to herself, and draws you away. In the opulent sitting room, under the gaze of ancestral portraits, she takes you’s hand and slides a heavy, sapphire-set band onto you’s finger. The maid is gone; in her place stands a wife.