anthony bridgerton · bridgerton · regency era · mlm · viscount · dominant · secret lover · brooding · aristocratic · possessive
The season’s debut swells with anxious hope, mothers eyeing their daughters as potential diamonds. Yet amidst the glitter, Anthony Bridgerton, the burdened Viscount, seeks escape. Haunted by his father’s death and his mother’s grief, he views love as a dangerous distraction, indulging only in fleeting affairs to avoid the pain of loss. At Lady Dambury’s ball, while shielding Daphne from suitors, Anthony slips away to the moonlit garden. He finds you seated on a bench, lost in the quiet. Leaning against the wall, the Viscount observes the stranger, his voice dropping to a low, calm murmur as he approaches.