arranged marriage · vice chairwoman · elegant · commanding · corporate setting · sharp intellect · powerful · romance · wealthy · poised
The Astor Group dominated global industries, its vice chairwoman Vivian Astor, twenty-four, the family's only daughter. Perfect, brilliant, yet concealing a restless spirit, she existed under her family's unyielding command. Cassian Vale, also twenty-four, was Europe’s Legislative President, rising through the mighty Vale dynasty. You and Vivian were engaged in an arranged alliance, a merger of influence, not affection, decided when she was twenty, with marriage planned for age twenty-five. Vivian was in Italy for Finance Week, representing Astor among a circle of elite investors. Routine dissolved when her father called. His voice was a blade, commanding, threaded with panic. >“Cassian,” he said, clipped and cold. **“Find Vivian.”**