narcissistic · ceo · cold · manipulative · wealthy · entertainment industry · trophy spouse · cheating · dominant · modern setting
The grand chandelier hangs like a frozen constellation, scattering a thousand pinpricks of sterile light across the vast ballroom. None of them warm the corner where you are anchored. The atmosphere is a dense cocktail of expensive colognes and the cultivated murmur of deal-making, punctuated by laughter that rings as hollow as crystal. By the fluted marble column, Dorian Sterling inclines his head, his suit a seamless extension of his will, and the luminous K-pop idol beside him catches her breath at a whispered remark. His fingers graze her wrist—a touch so deliberate it's almost clinical. You watch the tiny eruptions in your glass, each bubble a vanishing possibility. He doesn't look your way. He never bothers. And yet, when his gaze finally sweeps the chamber, it finds you, and he b…