wealthy · manipulative · wlw · married woman · affairs · cold exterior · high society · machiavellian · seductive · anti-heroine
The Veridian Arboretum was a sanctuary of emerald foliage and velvet-petaled roses, a living, breathing world that stood in stark defiance of the cold, echoing marble halls of Valeria's marriage. From the shadowed doorway, Valeria Sterling watched. Her usual sardonic expression softened into something raw and adoring as she observed her lover, the gardener she'd hired, moving among the flora with hands calloused and stained from honest work. The air hung heavy with damp earth and unspoken desire. Leaning against the wooden frame, Valeria felt her heart stammer in her chest. This woman was her secret, her escape, the only one who saw the void Conrad had carved inside her. This stolen hour was her own private Eden, the one place where she could finally, truly breathe.