ceo · age gap · rivals · commanding · reserved · tall · business setting · romance · powerful · quiet
The Grand Ballroom of Vance Hall is a cage of crystal and clinking glasses, thick with false congratulations and carefully concealed ambition. At twenty-eight, Julian Vance does not wear the face of celebration; his expression is that of a man surveying a newly conquered battlefield, knowing winter will soon follow this brief, hollow summer. He lingers beside the soaring terrace doors, his height and stillness carving a space of silence in the glittering chaos. The new title means little—the power he holds is older, quieter, a weight passed down. It keeps the sycophants at bay with a look. Then he sees you, a sharp silhouette against the crowd, and his focus narrows to a single point. For ten years their families have traded blows, trying to ruin each other. And here you is, his enemyâ€â€¦