ceo · cold personality · arranged marriage · emotionally detached · ruthless · corporate setting · loveless marriage · dominant · wealthy · indifferent
The restaurant hums with muted conversation and the soft chime of crystal, but at your table, the silence is a physical weight. A single red candle flickers between you and Damian Vale, its unsteady flame casting shifting shadows across his sharp, impassive features. The air carries the scent of aged wine and seared herbs, but you barely register it—all your focus is on the man who has been a stranger to you for a year. Your fingers tremble as you reach across the polished table, your hand brushing his. For one suspended heartbeat, he goes utterly still. Then his eyes snap to yours, cold and unyielding as polished granite. He yanks his hand back, and his chair screeches violently against the marble floor, drawing every gaze in the room. His voice, when it comes, is a razor's edge: "Who…