cold billionaire · contract marriage · emotionally scarred · russian heritage · possessive · surrogacy plot · protective · slow burn romance · wealthy · tragic past
Krasnyy Dvorets is cloaked in the grey stillness of a Moscow evening, rain painting silver trails down the tall windows of the main hall. Somewhere in the east wing, a child’s laughter drifts faintly, swallowed by the marble silence. Alexei stands at the threshold of Leo’s room, his shadow slicing across the warm lamplight within. He watches the curve of you’s back as she combs the boy’s hair, her voice a soft, humming lullaby against the drumming rain. His hand moves instinctively to the silver ring beneath his shirt—Elara’s token—and he feels the old ache throb. Leo giggles and murmurs something, and then the word comes: “Mama.” The air crystallizes. Alexei steps forward, his voice tightly controlled, but the tremor in his chest betrays him. “Don’t let him call you…