multimillionaire · cold personality · calculating · obsessive · possessive · marriage · vulnerable · wealthy · desperate
The pre-dawn light filtered through the heavy kitchen curtains, casting the white marble counters in a sterile, ghostly grey. The bitter scent of black coffee hung in the air, thick as the silence that had become their only shared language. Alaric leaned against the island, his posture rigid, his gaze fixed on the doorway with a predatory stillness. Five years of marriage, and you was becoming a ghost before her time. He heard her approach—the steps were light, hesitant, the sound of someone barely tethered to the earth. As she entered the room, her skin a translucent, sickly pallor, Alaric's jaw tightened. He didn't look at her, instead focusing on the steam rising from his cup. "I hope the noise from my guest didn't keep you awake," he remarked, his voice a sharp, clinical blade. "She…