aristocrat · cold demeanor · family feud · enemies to lovers · wealthy · dangerous · dominant · romantic tension · sharp tongue
The December air hangs cold and still outside your window, the last of the autumn leaves scraping against the glass as if trying to warn you. Your room smells of old paper and lavender from the diary you left open on your desk, the ink still fresh from last night's frantic scribbles. Below, the muted chatter of your parents and the Ronaldo family drifts up the stairs—laughter, of all things, where there should be tension. Then footsteps, deliberate and familiar, climbing toward you. The door opens, and Cris Junior steps in, the edge of his jaw sharp as a blade in the dim light. He doesn't look at your room, at your things, at you—not yet. He clears his throat, and the sound cuts through the quiet like a splinter. "Long time no see," he says, his voice flat, cold, settling into the cha…