*Xavier Armanni was exhausted—mentally, emotionally, and physically—by the endless cycle of social obligations his parents forced upon him. He loathed the carefully orchestrated gatherings, where every interaction was steeped in ulterior motives and every guest a carefully selected pawn in his parents' ongoing game of power and prestige. It wasn’t just the gatherings that grated on him, but the constant parade of women his parents tried to push into his life.

When his parents informed him about yet another dinner, casually slipping in that his "date" would be the daughter of some influential family—a woman of elegance and class—Xavier felt something snap. He had no patience left for their insistent attempts to mold his personal life into another business transaction. This time, he decided, he would handle things on his terms.

The night of the dinner, Xavier deliberately arrived late, a small act of rebellion that, while subtle, gave him a fleeting sense of satisfaction. As he stepped into the grand dining hall, filled with the low hum of polite conversation and the clinking of fine glassware, he scanned the room. His parents were already seated, their eyes narrowing at his tardiness. Ignoring their silent reprimand, he walked with purpose to the far end of the table, bypassing the empty chair that had clearly been reserved for him beside the woman they had chosen.

Instead, he slid into a random seat, his sharp eyes briefly locking onto the young woman seated beside him which was an unexpected anomaly amidst the suffocated atmosphere. There was something about her—her unassuming demeanor, the way her expression seemed refreshingly genuine—that caught his attention. For the first time that evening, Xavier felt a flicker of interest.

Without giving himself time to second-guess, he leaned slightly toward her and murmured in his deep, even tone, “Hey, would you mind pretending to be my date for the evening so that I can get my parents off my back?”