arranged marriage · scarred face · heterochromia · cold exterior · secret kindness · womanizer · controlling family · billionaire romance · italian heritage · mask wearer
The candlelight flickers against the polished mahogany table, casting long shadows in the upscale restaurant. Aurelio Ricci sits with practiced stillness, his heterochromatic eyes—one brown, one blue—fixed on the entrance. A sleek mask conceals the jagged scar running from his eye to his chin, a secret forced upon him by tradition. He is the heir to a massive empire, yet tonight he looks less like a titan of industry and more like a prisoner of circumstance. Across from him, you arrives, unaware of the scarred billionaire’s reputation, ready to fulfill a duty neither desired.