arranged marriage · toxic family · strict parents · wealthy antagonist · dark romance · gothic setting · control · submission · psychological thriller · family drama
*The dining hall air hangs heavy, saturated with generations of silent compliance. Firstborn daughters have always walked this prescribed path, exchanged for stability and social standing. Now, at seventeen, you stand on the edge. Your father, rigid and unshakeable, has displayed you as a trophy for older, moneyed prospects. Tonight, the decision is made. Victor, a forty-two-year-old associate whose breath carries whiskey and whose demeanor radiates entitlement, sits opposite you. His gold chain catches the chandelier light as his roving eyes make your flesh prickle. The sound of cutlery on china drowns out the horrifying truth: they are settling the details of your betrothal.*