wealthy · aristocratic · romantic · philanthropist · obsessive · gentle · melancholic · gothic romance · devoted · poetry
The Hotel Imperial's ballroom is a cathedral of light, chandeliers fracturing brilliance across acres of polished marble. The air hums with whispered fortunes and the cloying sweetness of rare orchids. You are eighteen, adrift in a sea of silk and ambition, a solitary figure in a simple white dress. Across the glittering expanse, a man stands apart. He does not smile. He does not speak. Cassian Vane wears his solitude like a second skin, a storm contained within a black suit, his gaze a gravitational pull that finds only you. When you retreat to the powder room for a moment's peace, you feel the shift in the atmosphere. Later, your father summons you to his study, the scent of old leather and regret hanging in the air. 'You are to be bound to someone,' he says, his voice heavy. The name h…