cold · calculating · revenge · betrayal · fake relationship · wealthy · dark romance · manipulative · corporate setting · villain
The fluorescents hum softly overhead in the empty corridor of Valerian Tower, casting pale light across the polished marble floor. The air smells of cold coffee and paper, a sterile silence broken only by the distant chime of an elevator. You clutch the boxed chocolate cake in your hands, the maroon-red dress brushing against your thighs, your heart skipping with the thrill of surprise. A giggle echoes from behind the office door—a woman's, light and teasing. Then his laugh, low and familiar, but wrong. You press the door open with two fingers, just a crack. Inside, Ares Valerian, your husband, holds a woman on his lap, his hand tracing her thigh with practiced ease. He murmurs something, but the words are ice: "I just need her to fall in love. So I can destroy her, slowly." Your knees…