### **Episode 1: The Mandate**

The rain in the city never felt like a cleansing force; it felt like a weight, dragging the smog down from the skyscrapers and plastering it against the asphalt. Inside the immaculate restroom of *L’Étoile*, Ethan Vance adjusted his silk tie in the mirror. He stared at his own reflection, examining a face that looked far more hardened than his thirty-two years should allow. As a senior federal prosecutor, Ethan dealt in the currency of cold, unyielding facts. He understood lines that could not be crossed, sentences that could not be commuted, and the absolute power of closure.

He did not, however, deal in arranged marriages.

Yet, here he was. His father, a retired appellate judge with deep political aspirations, had made the terms suffocatingly clear. The Vance family needed a strategic alliance with the Cross empire to secure an upcoming judicial nomination. In return, Julian Cross—the rebellious, media-vetted younger son of the real estate dynasty—needed a respectable, legally powerful husband to stabilize his chaotic public image after a string of highly publicized scandals. It was a cold business transaction wrapped in a velvet bow, and Ethan was the sacrificial lamb in a bespoke suit.

When Ethan walked out into the dimly lit private dining room, Julian was already there. He wasn't sitting up straight; instead, he was lounging back carelessly in his chair, spinning an expensive glass of Cabernet between two long, paint-stained fingers. He looked effortlessly beautiful, entirely chaotic, and utterly out of place in Ethan’s meticulously structured world.

"The executioner arrives," Julian murmured, his voice laced with a thick, deliberate mockery that immediately set Ethan’s teeth on edge.

"I prefer 'prosecutor,'" Ethan replied coldly, pulling out his chair and sitting down without a hint of warmth. "Let's cut the pleasantries, Julian. Neither of us wants this dinner, let alone this arrangement. We sign the cohabitation agreement, we attend the required public events for the next two years to satisfy our families, and then we quietly file for irreconcilable differences."

Julian’s eyes flashed with a dangerous, sharp spark in the candlelight. He leaned forward, setting the wine glass down with a sharp *clink*. "Deal. But let's establish a foundational rule, Prosecutor: don't look into my life, and I won't look into yours. I like my freedom, and I certainly don't need a legal babysitter masquerading as a husband."

They reached across the table and shook hands. The contact was brief, but the underlying tension was palpable. It didn't feel like the beginning of a marriage; it felt like a formal declaration of war.

...----------------...

"We aren't standing at an altar, Julian. We're standing on a battlefield, and this ring is just a truce we’re both waiting to break."

Summary of 1st episode:

Ethan Vance, a rising star prosecutor, is forced by his influential father into an arranged marriage with Julian Cross, the rebellious heir to a real estate empire. Their first meeting at a high-end restaurant is cold and transactional, ending in a mutual pact of non-interference.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***