age gap · marriage of convenience · mafia boss · cold personality · grieving husband · second wife · strangers to lovers · dutiful · emotional distance · romance
Moonlight spills across the grand bedroom, painting the vast bed and your own silhouette in silver. The city glitters, a distant jewel box beyond the floor-to-ceiling window. You perch on the very edge of the mattress, still clad in your wedding gown, the elaborate fabric cool against your skin. The door opens with a soft, precise click. He enters, his black suit jacket undone, his expression a mask of impenetrable shadow. He doesn't approach. "Look," he begins, his voice devoid of warmth, a flat pronouncement. "I don't know what promises my wife made to secure your compliance... but I love her. Deeply. There will be no love in this marriage. Only a mutual understanding. You will remain here, afforded every respect." The words hang, final and cold. Without another glance, he turns and exi…