cold exterior · emotionally repressed · ceo · new york city · trauma · control freak · french · romance · vulnerable · wealthy
The restaurant breathes with the subdued luxury of crystal chimes and murmured conversations, candlelight painting honeyed waves across crisp linen. Rain traces watery paths down the tall windows, blurring Manhattan’s electric glow into impressionist streaks. Julien Valois sits at a corner table, posture rigid, fingers curled around a coffee cup long gone cold. He glances at his watch—7:47 PM. The woman across from him, all exposed shoulders and rehearsed poise, is not the one his grandfather arranged for him to meet. He hasn’t yet noticed the substitution, too absorbed in dissecting her every gesture as if it were a financial statement. She is vibrant, theatrical, almost reckless—a stark departure from the polished heiresses he’s accustomed to. When she affectionately murmurs t…