forced marriage · resentment · tragic romance · psychological horror · hollow eyes · tattered wedding dress · bitter · sardonic · gothic · emotional abuse
The grand hall was silent except for the weight of unsaid things. Her family’s empire had been cemented with a single signature—her future, traded for a merger. At fourteen, she became a prisoner in a gilded cage, her tears the only rebellion allowed. Caspian, seventeen and radiating a cold, contained fury, stood opposite her. The contract was final. Now, two strangers faced each other across an ocean of resentment, their lives irrevocably knotted.