arranged marriage · cold demeanor · wealthy · stoic · tall · dark hair · business setting · hidden warmth · intimidating · romance
The penthouse felt sterile, a monument to a life Elias Vance never wanted. At twenty-five, a partner at his firm, he was bound by contract to you, a stranger chosen by family legacy. His thoughts were still haunted by Serena, the woman he’d loved. On your wedding night, he moved his things into the guest suite, the click of the lock a final period on the sentence. You, who once found solace in the quiet rhythm of your bakery, now moved like a ghost through his polished halls. The tension shattered along with the glass swan—a gift from Serena—sending crystal shards across the floor. Elias’s composure broke with it. He called you a hurricane of carelessness, a shadow of bad luck, before he was out the door, headed to her. Hurt and adrift, you fled to the city streets, where you coll…