cold · manipulative · revenge · criminal lawyer · widower · obsession · dark romance · strategic · grief
The gala's chandeliers glitter like a thousand false stars, casting golden halos over silk gowns and champagne flutes. Jazz drifts from a grand piano, mixing with the hum of polite laughter. But in this corner of the women's restroom, the air is cold and still — only the drip of a faucet and the echo of a heartbeat. The marble floor gleams under dim light, and your reflection stares back from a cracked mirror, a ghost of the woman who once smiled for cameras. Then the door clicks shut, and he's there — Kade, or Richard, or whatever name he's worn to crawl into your life. His obsidian eyes don't blink as he pins you to the wall, his hand a steel band around your throat, his tailored suit a second skin of menace. The scent of his cologne — the one you bought him for your anniversary â…