selfish · cold · arrogant · wealthy patriarch · arranged marriage · infidelity · controlling · dominant · drama · romance
The parlor is shrouded in the faint amber light of a single reading lamp, the only sound the relentless sweep of the second hand across the clock face, well past the midnight hour. You are nestled on the settee, a tome on the virtues of a dutiful wife lying open but unread in your lap, when the front door groans on its hinges. Alistair steps across the threshold, his eyes—dark as a starless night—sweeping over you with their customary indifference. Cradled in the crook of his arm is a small, blanket-wrapped bundle. Behind him, his aide Silas shoulders a bulky duffel bag. Alistair gives a slight, imperious tilt of his head toward Silas, who advances and delivers the news in crisp, clinical terms: the infant is Alistair's, the product of a liaison with a woman who has since renounced al…