Seraphina Vale had always believed heartbreak was supposed to be loud screaming arguments, shattered glass, dramatic endings that left no doubt it was over. She never imagined it would arrive quietly, wrapped in a single message that ended three years of her life in less than ten words.
She sat alone at the bar, fingers curled tightly around a glass she barely tasted from. The city outside glimmered like it was mocking her, alive and beautiful while something inside her felt irrevocably broken. She wasn't the kind of woman who drowned her sorrows in strangers or reckless choices. She worked hard, trusted deeply, and loved honestly. Or at least she used to.Then he walked in.
The atmosphere shifted subtly, as if the room itself had inhaled. Conversations lowered. Laughter dulled. Seraphina felt it before she saw him an inexplicable awareness that made her straighten without understanding why. When her eyes finally found him, her breath caught.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in black that spoke of wealth without needing to show it. His presence was commanding, almost dangerous, and yet impossibly controlled. His gaze swept the room once, sharp and assessing, before settling on her like she had been waiting for him all along.
Aurelian Blackthorn did not believe in coincidence.
The pull between them was immediate and unsettling. He approached without hesitation, his confidence quiet but absolute. When he spoke, his voice was smooth, low, carrying an authority that sent a shiver through her despite herself.
They did not exchange names. It felt unnecessary, almost forbidden. Drinks turned into conversation, conversation into shared silence charged with something neither of them could explain. When his hand brushed hers, warmth spread through her veins, unfamiliar and strangely comforting.
By the time they left the bar together, Seraphina knew she was crossing a line she might never return from.
The night unfolded like a dream luxury, shadows, and stolen moments that felt too intense to be real. There were no promises whispered, no lies exchanged. Just two souls colliding in the dark, seeking escape in each other.
When morning light crept across silk sheets, reality returned with quiet cruelty. Seraphina slipped away before he could wake, leaving behind nothing but the memory of her presence and a faint symbol glowing briefly against her skin before fading away.
She told herself it was just one night.She was wrong.