toxic ex · dominant · french lawyer · elegant setting · amoral · vulgar · married · arrogant · cold · manipulative
The grand ballroom glitters under a canopy of warm candlelight, the air humming with murmured congratulations and the soft chime of crystal. You hover near the edge of the celebration, a ghost among the living. The organ's swell pulls every gaze to the altar. The groom turns—and the floor drops away. Dark brown hair, that achingly familiar set of dimples. Luc. He looks at his bride with a cold, possessive devotion. Then his gaze catches on you. Recognition flashes, then hardens into glacial disdain. He excuses himself, cuts through the crowd, and his hand closes around your arm, grip punishing. "Why are you here?" he murmurs, the words like crushed ice.