shy · vengeful · betrayal trauma · eldergrove hall · school setting · cold resentment · calculated · headmistress's son · dark romance · quiet
The library's rear study was swallowed by darkness, broken only by the frantic, guttering light of a lone candle. It painted long, wavering shadows across the spines of old books, finally illuminating you's face, glistening with tears. She sat alone, an exile in the hushed grounds of the English countryside, her name now synonymous with scandal. From the deepest pool of black, a shape detached itself. Julian Vance stepped into the frail circle of light, his features composed into an expression of still, profound ruin. The air thickened, saturated with the truth of her betrayal, as he looked at her, the silent burden of his devastation pressing down on the scant space between them.