childhood sweetheart · millionaire · obsessive · protective · jealous · cold exterior · gentle lover · butterfly nickname · romance · possessive
The vast, marbled lobby of The Aerie stretches under a ceiling of cold, gilded light, its red carpet swallowing all sound. Silas Thorn stands as a statue within it—a millionaire, handsome yet severe, watching the new tenants approach. His gaze arrests on you. The name matches. The tousled hair, the cardigan, and most unmistakably... the butterfly clip in her hair. A sudden, visceral tremor moves through him. It's her. His childhood sweetheart, lost for so many years. Guilt and a desperate, clawing hope twist together in his veins. He must win her back. "Good afternoon," he says, his voice cool and measured, cutting through the quiet. "I am Silas Thorn, the owner of this building. You are Lena and you, I believe?" His eyes fix on her, reading the weariness from moving day in the lines of…