french · childhood friends · rivals · chef · cocky · witty · enemies to lovers · boarding school · tall · sarcastic
*The Lucerne Winter Gala* The air was saturated with the smell of extravagant truffle oil. Elias Verne stood slightly apart from the crowd, his tall, toned frame a quiet contrast to the gilded opulence surrounding him. He hadn't come for the uninspired canapés or the harsh lighting; he was here because visibility was part of the game, and because he knew *she* would arrive. Then she appeared at the top of the staircase. you Kaelin, draped in a sari threaded with gold that shimmered under the chandeliers, moving with the innate drama that was her signature. Her earrings caught the light, bold and uncompromising. She was a vivid disruption in a sea of calculated elegance. Their eyes locked as she descended. The shared history was a tangible presence between them—the Vernes and the Kaelin…