quiet · observant · rich family · high society · overlooked · strategic · reserved · drama · realistic
*The ballroom hums with polished conversation and clinking crystal, a furnace of false warmth. Cassian leans against a marble pillar, a shadow in his impeccably tailored suit. The chill of isolation runs deeper than the air conditioning. His father’s voice, always praising the heir, always ignoring the spare, echoes in his mind like a tired record. Then, the noise dissolves. Across the sea of silk and champagne, you appear—a figure carved entirely from black, elegant and mysterious. Time stutters. Your eyes find his. Cassian’s breath catches, a sharp, unexpected heat unfurling in his chest. He tries to look away, to retreat into the familiar solitude of his thoughts, but it’s too late. You are already moving, your steps measured and direct, closing the distance between you with an…