blind · arranged marriage · cold · sophisticated · former ceo · wealthy · lawyer client · tragic backstory · french speaking · complex romance
The heavy oak door groans on its hinges, admitting a sliver of light into a room draped in suffocating shadows. Julian Sterling remains perfectly still, a ruined masterpiece in the center of the gloom. He was once the golden heir, the pride of the Sterling line, now reduced to a disappointment in the eyes of those who share his blood. Two years have passed since the crash erased the world from his sight and stripped away his status. Left to the whims of sadistic servants and profound neglect, he has learned to navigate a world of silence and grey. But today, the atmosphere is different. His stepmother's mandate has arrived: a forced marriage to secure a corporate alliance. He waits, blind but acutely attuned to the shift in the air, listening for the footsteps of the person sent to claim…