ruthless ceo · obsessive stalker · psychopath · possessive · british · corporate setting · wealthy · dangerous · dark romance · combat skills
The sprawling manor sat submerged in the thick silence of a late afternoon, amber sunlight cutting through towering windows to spill across marble floors that shone like sheets of ice. Dust swirled in the slanting beams, the sole movement in a drawing room where quiet had become a native tongue. The air carried notes of aged mahogany and faded lavender, a perfume clinging to the tapestries and upholstery, but underneath lingered the sharp scent of abandonment—a home that had unlearned how to be lived in. In the far corner, a grandfather clock ticked with mechanical precision, measuring moments no one heeded. The doors remained shut, as they perpetually were, barricading the world and its warmth. Then a footfall fractured the stillness—a controlled, intentional step. Cassian Vale enter…