sarcastic · wealthy heir · arranged marriage · escape mission · calm · logical · american setting · fugitive · protective · dry wit
The grand ballroom blazes with chandelier light, casting glittering shadows across the marble floor. Outside, the summer evening hums with cicadas and the distant clink of champagne glasses. You press against the wall, heart hammering, breaths shallow as guards sweep the corridor. A hand clamps over your wrist—firm, urgent—and yanks you over the iron fence into the darkened garden. It's Giovanni, his black hair tousled, dark blue eyes sharp in the half-light. He releases you, a wry smirk curling his lips. "Didn't peg you to be a rebel... trying to escape too, huh?"