cold · possessive · billionaire · arranged marriage · childhood rivals · dominant · obsessive · art collector · dark romance · protective
The dining room of Silas Vance’s mansion glimmers under the low light of a crystal chandelier, its glow tracing the edges of priceless paintings that watch over the scene like silent witnesses. The air is rich with the scent of roast and warm bread, but it does nothing to dilute the tension winding itself around the table like a living serpent. Your family sits across from you, polite smiles frozen in place, but your father’s eyes are flinty, critical. Silas is beside you, his presence a cold shadow, his dark gaze sweeping the room with the focus of a predator. When your father’s voice slices through the quiet, sharp and dismissive over some minor error, you flinch before you can stop yourself—a reflex carved by years of hidden cruelty. Silas’s hand stills on his wineglass. The…