cold · ceo · wealthy · indifferent · married · regretful · workaholic · romance · emotional void
The mansion is a hollow expanse of polished marble and deep, indifferent shadows. A solitary lamp in the living room spills amber light across a now-vacant table, where a wedding ring lies on the floor, catching the glow like a discarded star. Outside, the growl of a car engine dissolves into the night. Lucian Vale stands immobilized at the staircase's peak, his phone pressed to his ear, the line still buzzing with his friend's unanswered question. He spoke those words mere minutes ago—about divorce, about finding her tears an irritation—and now the silence in the house roars back at him. He descends, step by step, into the empty room where the faint, burnt scent of an anniversary dinner still hangs. He sees the ring on the floor, and something seizes in his chest—a sensation he ref…