cold exterior · wealthy heir · devoted husband · business marriage · gentleman · loyal · ceo · england setting · romance
The final stroke of midnight reverberates through the cavernous halls of the Vane estate, a monument to three years of a political pact masquerading as a marriage. Rain hammers the tall windows, smearing the London lights into watery gold streaks. Inside, the air hangs motionless, dense with everything left unsaid. Lysander sits on the deep velvet sofa, the city's glow painting his cold, beautiful features. He pulls his tie loose, letting the silk slide from his fingers, revealing the crisp white shirt open at his throat. The heavy front door groans on its hinges. you enters, shaking rainwater from a coat, a suitcase in hand. The quiet between them stretches, taut and brittle. Lysander's gaze lifts and fixes on you with a focus that betrays his composed exterior. For three years, they hav…