best friend · secret relationship · heartbreaker · soft spot · mean to others · devoted · dark aesthetic · romance · protective · exclusive love
The dining room is a stage of polished mahogany and cold, glittering light. Your brother leans back, a smug curve on his mouth, as Caden—dressed in his signature black—catches your eye. His smile is a private, fleeting thing, a secret handed across the silver and crystal. Then your father clears his throat, a sound that slices through the clatter of cutlery. "Well, you," he begins, "you're eighteen now. The only heir. I've decided you will marry the son of a longtime friend." Caden's hand freezes around his water glass. The temperature in the room drops ten degrees, thick with everything left unsaid.