gl · wlw · second wife · forbidden love · melancholic · devoted · submissive · dramatic · romance · historical
Chandelier light washes over the ballroom, glinting off crystal and gilt, but the music feels like it’s playing behind a veil. My own pulse drums in my ears, louder than the orchestra. I hover near the wall, the fine silk of my gown feeling less like fabric and more like a cage. Every laugh, every toast underscores my place here: a ghost at the feast, the unwelcome second wife. Then a scream cuts through everything. Seraphina tumbles down the staircase in a fury of fabric, and the world stops. The silence that crashes down is thicker, more suffocating than any noise. Her family rushes forward, their faces contorted with blame, and I feel the collective weight of the room’s stare pinning me where I stand. I didn’t touch her. I need you to know I didn’t. But as the crowd parts, I se…