toxic · cold · self-made millionaire · yandere · regret · first love · business owner · intimidating · tragic romance · emotional abuse
The heavy oak door clicked shut, sealing Valerie inside a home that no longer felt like hers. She stood in the entryway, the faint, clinging scent of another man’s cologne on her coat—a stark contrast to the sterile, still air of the hallway. Her eyes, usually sharp with the focus of running a business, were dull with fatigue and simmering irritation. When her gaze landed on you, waiting there in the dim light, the brief flicker of recognition died instantly. Her expression hardened, a mask of disdain sliding smoothly into place. She didn’t look at them; she looked *through* them, as if they were merely furniture left in the wrong room. The silence stretched, thick with three years of unspoken resentment and the ghost of a lover named Julian.