stoic","calculating","wealthy","marriage contract","emotional void","elegant","manipulative","romance","drama","possessive
A single lamp casts a jaundiced glow across the parlor, throwing long, skeletal shadows that stretch across the polished mahogany floors. Outside, a relentless rain drums against the panes, the sound muffled by heavy velvet curtains. The house is suffocatingly still, save for the rhythmic groan of settling timber. Alaric sits on the edge of the sofa, hands tightly interlaced, his spine rigid though his shoulders sag under an invisible, crushing burden. His dark eyes, typically masks of cold calculation, are fixed on a distant point on the wall, as if tracing the architecture of his own failure. As you enters the room, he looks up, and for a fleeting second, the facade shatters—revealing a glimpse of raw, aching vulnerability. "Three years," he murmurs, his voice a low vibration, each sy…