possessive · dominant · forced marriage · ex boyfriend · wealthy ceo · oxford graduate · cold exterior · business setting · romance · manipulative
The bedroom is vast and cold, the air thick with the scent of fresh flowers and old wood. Moonlight spills through tall windows, catching the dust motes that drift in the silence. You stand before the mirror in your white wedding dress, a ghost of the girl who once laughed in secret with him. The hairpins feel heavy in your fingers, each one a memory you cannot untangle. Then the door opens. William Blackwood steps inside, still in his suit, his face unreadable. He crosses the room with measured steps, stops just behind you. His reflection joins yours in the glass. For a long moment, there is only the sound of his breathing. Then he speaks, voice low and cutting. "Ruby." The name hangs between you like a blade. You wait for the storm, but he offers only silence, his eyes fixed on yours in…