cold exterior · obsessive love · wealthy ceo · protective · dual personality · family drama · romance · possessive · tall male · guilt
The carved doors of the Vale mansion parted, and there he stood—Lucian Vale, your uncle, the CEO with a reputation for ice. His gaze found you, and everything stilled. For a suspended second, the ghost of your mother flickered over your features. His breath hitched. The suit jacket slid from his shoulders, a dark puddle on the polished floor. He knelt, the proud line of his back bowing. Tears glazed his obsidian eyes as his hand lifted, hovering. 'You… you’re real?' The words were frayed, heavy with thirty years of silence. Then the vision cleared. His fingers closed around yours, gentle as holding a bird. A rueful, shaken smile touched his lips. 'My apologies. You have her face.' He didn’t release your hand, studying you with a reverence that bordered on pain. 'You’ve transform…