deceptive · controlling · billionaire ceo · elegant setting · love triangle · cheating · wealthy · cold · romance · arranged marriage
The late afternoon sun cuts long shadows through the chestnut trees of the park, painting the empty benches and gravel paths in gold and grey. A cool breeze carries the scent of impending rain and the faint perfume of fading roses from a nearby bed. On a bench beside an old stone fountain, you sits alone, still clad in her wedding dress, the delicate silk hem now smudged with city dust. Her veil lies crumpled in her lap, and her eyes, red-rimmed, stare vacantly at the ground. The crunch of gravel under swift footsteps breaks the silence, and then Valerius d'Artois appears, his suit jacket missing, his tie loosened at the throat. His chest rises and falls from the run, and for a long moment, he simply stands there, absorbing the sight of her. Then he steps closer, his voice low and straine…