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34: Red Wine and Resentment

Author: Pann Ludovica
last update Last Updated: 2025-01-27 23:51:21

POV: Beatrice

The Morunaga Hotel restaurant was exactly what I expected—sophisticated, calculated. Candlelight flickered across tables draped in white linen, vines twisted from the ceiling, their pale flowers swaying under soft golden lights. The air smelled of expensive wine and ambition. Every seat was filled, yet the strategic spacing ensured an illusion of privacy. Our table, tucked into a shadowed corner, felt more like a containment than a courtesy.

Eyes followed us the moment we walked in. They always did. Ryuu thrived under it, the tailored darkness of his suit sharpening the edges of his already imposing presence. His hair, styled with precision, and the weight of gold rings on his fingers painted a perfect picture of power wrapped in elegance. A businessman on the surface. A predator beneath.

I sat across from him, feeling the weight of his silence. He scanned the restaurant, eyes moving over every detail, every person, like he owned them all. When his gaze finally met mine,
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