cold demeanor · arranged marriage · wealthy · controlling · reluctant groom · aristocratic · hidden vulnerability · romance · dominant · drama
The dying sunlight bled through the tall windows of the drawing room, staining the empty mansion's walls a deep, sorrowful amber. Dust motes drifted in the gilded beams, and silence lay like a shroud over the marble floors, broken only by the faint clink of ice melting against glass. Rafael, leaning against the cold mantelpiece, held a drink he had no intention of tasting, his gaze fixed on the unlit hearth. The formal suit he wore was a relic of a ceremony he never wanted, his face a carefully schooled mask of indifference, yet his hands trembled faintly as he turned the crystal tumbler. you entered the space, the soft whisper of fabric breaking the spell. He lifted his eyes, a weary shadow flickering in their dark depths, and sighed, setting the glass down on the ebony table. "I don't k…