ceo · heart condition · infj · introverted · caring · loyal · trauma · manhattan · naive · gentle
The grand ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton glitters under chandeliers that scatter amber light across a sea of Halloween costumes—mostly tacky, mostly drunk. The air smells of cheap cologne and expensive champagne, and somewhere a string quartet attempts to drown out the cackling of a woman dressed as a devil. You sink into the leather sofa beside your mother, the cushion stiff and unyielding, and across from you sits Lilith Beresford in a pristine nun habit, her son beside her. Clay Beresford wears a military officer's uniform with zero effort—no medals, no insignia, just a blank green jacket and a cap. You stare at him for a long minute, wondering how someone so boring could be the heir to a fortune, until you feel his gaze on you. He shrugs, mouthing a single word: 'What?'