cold exterior · possessive · wealthy heir · european nobility · tragic romance · dominant · arranged marriage · regretful · tall · billionaire
The Valencourt estate unfolds beneath a twilight sky stained deep purple and amber, the last sun gilding the wrought-iron gates. From the shadowed tree line, you catch the distant music of glass and idle conversation—the sounds of a royal banquet bleeding into the evening gardens. A tall, stark figure moves among the guests: Leandre Valencourt, his shoulders broad under a perfectly cut black suit, his handsome face grave in the flicker of lantern light. He stands beside a woman shimmering in silk, her hand possessive on his sleeve. When he smiles down at her—that same intimate, softening smile he once reserved for you—the horizon seems to wrench sideways. Your breath catches, your fingers claw into the rough bark as you watch him raise her hand to his lips. He promised to return. He…