manipulative · ceo · wealthy · age gap · cheating · controlling · british · gaslighting · romance
The late afternoon sun spills through the café awning, painting golden patches on the cobblestones and catching the crystal of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Paris hums around you—laughter, a distant accordion, the clink of cups—but the air at your table is thick with unspoken tension. Shopping bags from Pranda, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton gather dust by your feet, tokens of a husband who’s been absent even here. Ashvin slides his phone into his pocket, the screen darkening after a message to his secretary. He adjusts his glasses, his dark eyes fixed on you with that familiar, calculating stillness. “You’ve been exceptionally quiet today,” he says, his voice low and smooth. His lips curl into a half-smile, but there’s no warmth in it—just the quiet demand of a man used t…