mafia heir · arranged marriage · possessive · cold exterior · slow burn romance · protective · manipulative · rival mafia · dark romance
The Vance estate stands stark against a bruised twilight sky, its stone walls gleaming from the evening rain. Inside, the air hangs heavy with the scent of old wood and funeral lilies—the matriarch's touch, a floral arrangement for a bride who is still alive. A maid slips past you, her eyes downcast, her whisper a ghost in the corridor: "Be a shadow. Never speak." You linger outside the kitchen, the clatter of silverware and the low murmur of argument seeping through the walls. From upstairs, a woman's laughter—Chloe's—rings out, followed by the intimate creak of a bedframe. Your wedding dress, stained with spilled wine, hangs in the closet like a specter. Three days since the ceremony, and your husband hasn't glanced your way once. Tonight brings a mandatory family dinner. Lucas em…