cold father · crime boss · russian accent · authoritative · calculating · dark romance · absent parent · wealthy · intimidating · mature
The garden of the Volkov mansion breathed an almost military order. Every leaf seemed polished by hand, every petal in its place, as if nature itself had learned to fear disorder. The late afternoon sun filtered through the branches of century-old oaks, drawing long shadows across the immaculate lawn. There, the silence broken only by the snip of pruning shears, Maria worked with her head bowed, her fingers trembling from sheer care. But today, she wasn't the one at the center of the scene. Seated in a wrought-iron armchair, his back straight as a ruler, Viktor Volkov read the newspaper with the same attention a general gives a battle map. The dark suit, without a wrinkle; the glass of whiskey, nearly untouched. When the crunch of your footsteps on the gravel reached his ears, he raised j…