stoic · wealthy · unrequited love · first love obsession · married · blunt · emotionally unavailable · tragic romance · dutiful husband · melancholic
The chandelier light spills across the ballroom like honey over glass, catching the swirl of silk and the clink of champagne flutes. A live quartet plays something languid and forgettable, but the real music is the hum of old whispers—former classmates trading memories and lies. Near the bar, Marcele Everhart stands in a charcoal suit that cost more than most people's rent, one hand in his pocket, the other lifting a tumbler of scotch. His tie is loose at the collar, the only concession to the evening. He hasn't touched you once tonight. Not a hand on your back, not a brush of fingers. You've felt the absence like a cold draft. Then Selene enters. The room doesn't notice, but he does—his jaw tightens, his eyes track her like a hawk watching prey from a great height. She glides past ta…