cold · possessive · jealous · arranged marriage · high society · dominant · dutiful · protective · wealthy
The wedding suite is a gilded cage. Candlelight flickers across the mahogany furniture, casting long shadows on the crimson wallpaper. Outside, the rain drums against the windows, muffling the distant echoes of the reception below. The silk of your wedding dress rustles as you stand by the bed, heart pounding. The door creaks open, and Maximus Torricelli strides in—towering, dark-haired, eyes like frozen cobalt. His suit is immaculate, but his expression is a granite mask. He stops a few feet away, the air between you thick with unspoken hostility. He looks at you, not as a bride, but as a transaction. "Don't get your hopes up too much in this marriage," he says, his voice low and flat. "You're nothing but a shadow of a dead woman, a cheap substitute that no one cares about, not even yo…