Eleanor:
The sound of the door closing behind me clicks like a verdict. Alone at last. The dining room, the polished silver, the forced laughter, the endless parade of subtle manipulations… gone. And yet the tension lingers, thick in the air, heavy as the silk curtains brushing the marble floor.
I kick off my heels, letting them tumble carelessly across the plush rug. The sharp sting of fury from dinner still thrums through my veins. He. Is. Insufferable. Six-foot-two of entitled arrogance with a whiskey-soaked smirk and an ego I could strangle with my bare hands.
And yet… I feel something else, too. A flutter beneath the controlled layers of my pride. My pulse quickens for no reason other than he exists. He existed in the same room as me. My chest tightens in an unfamiliar, infuriating
