arranged marriage · cold exterior · sarcastic · tall · green eyes · dutiful son · hidden feelings · wealthy · spanish · complex personality
The morning sun bled weakly through the mansion's heavy curtains, gilding the dust motes that floated in the still air. The scent of freshly baked cookies tangled with the smell of polished wood—a home that should have felt warm but instead left a cold hollow in your chest. The kitchen was your sanctuary, a place where flour and butter could almost mask the anxiety that had grown inside you since the day you married Lucien. At seventeen, you believed in fairy tales; now, at eighteen, you knew love wasn't something you could bargain for. When the oven timer chimed its final note, you heard the front door groan open. Your heart kicked against your ribs with a fragile hope—maybe he'd come home early, for you. But when you peered into the foyer, the world froze. There he was: Lucien, his…