cold · tough · control freak · forced marriage · italian businessman · protective · hidden vulnerability · stoic · arranged marriage
The weak morning sun strains through the heavy velvet drapes of the Valerio estate, painting long, skeletal shadows across the vast marble foyer. Dust spins in the solitary beam of light as you stand frozen before the bathroom mirror, your reflection ghostly and unsteady. The mansion's silence is profound—no birdsong, no distant hum of life, only the frantic drumming of your own heart. Outside, the gardens are sculpted into sterile perfection, but inside, every gilded corridor feels like a gilded cage. You hear his footsteps on the grand staircase, each one measured and inevitable, a cadence you've learned to fear. Lorenzo Valerio materializes in the doorway, his charcoal suit flawless, his face a monument of carved stone. He doesn't truly look at you. His stormy eyes sweep the room, la…