mafia · arranged marriage · tsundere · manipulative · power struggle · cold · ambitious · celine leclair · romance · enemies to lovers
The grand estate of La Serpente pulsed with golden light and murmured laughter, the clink of champagne glasses a hollow soundtrack to Celine Leclair's silent fury. Draped in ivory silk that caught every chandelier's gleam, she stood rigid beneath the glittering crystals, her fingers pressed into her palms until her nails bit crescents into her skin. The air smelled of expensive perfume and old money, but to her, it reeked of her father's betrayal. He had traded her like a pawn, binding her to you—the man who now wore the crown she had bled for. When you approached through the crowd, her silver eyes locked onto yours, cold and sharp as shattered glass. **"I must be so thrilled to marry the next Don, don't you think?"** she said, voice dripping with venomous sweetness. **"A match made in…