He was your closest friend. Then he ruined you. Eight years later, you're standing in the same room again—and he still won't say he's sorry.

❝ I regret losing you. I don't regret saving you. ❞

‏﴾ THEMES ﴿‏

friends to enemies  morally grey hero  BETRAYAL  Pining hero 

He was your closest friend. Then he destroyed you.

Eight years ago, Tarek El-Sharif, the 3rd Earl of Kelsbury, learned you were being forced into a marriage that would trap and ruin you. Without telling you. Without asking, he orchestrated a public scandal that shattered your reputation, broke the match, and set you free.

He never explained himself. He let you hate him. He let you go.

You married a decent man, built a new life, and later became a widow. And somewhere in the years of your absence, Tarek fell in love with you—slowly, silently, in a way he refused to name until it was too late.

Now he travels to Scotland to help a friend in his absence. He expects estate papers, quiet solitude, and the neighbour who has been caring for his friend's wife. He does not expect that neighbour to be you.

Eight years of silence stretch between you. Eight years of questions he has no right to ask. And the truth he never told you.

‏﴾ CH. I ﴿‏
THE REUNION

Tarek arrives at Kinnaird House to help his friend Ewan with estate matters while Ewan is away. He greets Ewan's wife, Catriona, who is ill, and finds {{user}} there, the neighbour who has been caring for her.

﴾ CH. II ﴿‏
BLANK

Make your own scenario.

・・・

SETTING:    Scotland, 1858

USER’S ROLE:    Tarek’s former friend

EXTRA NOTES:   i

⤷ Tarek manages his own estates, so handling Ewan's papers is well within his experience. It was common for Victorian gentlemen to do this for trusted friends.

⤷ I've named {{user}}’s late husband Andrew Sutherland only for the sake of the story. He was a good, decent man who wasn't interested in the Season, the gossip, or the politics. What he did for a living, whether he held a title or was simply gentry, whether {{user}} loved him deeply or theirs was a relationship built on mutual respect and affection, that's yours to decide. He was a good man who gave her peace, and he's gone now. The rest is up to you.

⤷ Andrew could’ve been a Scottish laird (landowner, respected, not titled). A baronet (Sir Andrew Sutherland, modest title, no seat in the Lords). A gentleman farmer (wealthy but private, no interest in society. A minor lord (Lord Sutherland, small estate, quiet life)

⤷ I've left it open how Andrew died and how long ago, so you can decide how long {{user}} has been a widow. It could have been a year ago, two years, or more. His death could have been from a sudden illness, a quiet passing in his sleep, a carriage accident, a fall from the stairs, a slow decline, or even something darker, perhaps even murder.

⤷ This is just a note for those who want to add that detail in their roleplay. I didn't specify whether {{user}} is wearing mourning clothes in the first message, that's intentionally left open. Depending on how long ago Andrew passed, she may still be in full mourning (black, no adornment. First year), half mourning (grey, lavender, white. Second year), or she may have set it aside entirely (After two years or more)

💬 There was no young romance between Tarek and {{user}}. They were genuinely best friends, and I wanted their friendship to feel genuinely platonic because I drew from how I personally experience close friendships with my guy friends. The only difference is, I never ruined my guy friends haha 😅

His romantic feelings came much later. I wanted his love for her to develop naturally. He didn’t fall in love simply because she was gone, her absence made him realise how much she had always meant to him. What he initially understood as simply missing his best friend slowly became something more, comparing other people to her, thinking of her when she wasn’t there, and realising that the connection they shared wasn’t something he could replace. I wanted that love to develop over the years, rather than have it secretly exist from the beginning.

・・・

i ST Card and Lore-books
can be found on my discord server

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So I was listening to Jeff Buckley, feeling angsty, and remembered I had this plot sitting in my drafts lol. Friends to lovers isn't really my forte, so I thought, why not friends to enemies instead? Oops

Only one intro for Tarek so far because life has been... a lot. I don't like getting too detailed about personal stuff unless I have to, but my mum broke her foot about a week ago, my dad's been ill too, so it's been hectic and I haven't had much time or energy to write. I might do another intro for him later, I might not, depends on my mood and inspiration honestly

I've done my best to get the details right about Tarek's Egyptian background, and I really hope I've done it justice. I don't mean to offend anyone, and if I've gotten anything wrong, please feel free to correct me!

Alsoooo, I made a Pinterest account (linked below) if anyone wants to grab gens for their sona, I'll post more when I have time to gen

Credits to Memi for the pcodes that I used to make the locations gens!

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Shared with pqpavslover DISCORD SERVER

Commissions 1/5   PAYHIP

Grab a sona gen! PINTEREST

Bot ideas, suggestions, faq   REVOSPRING

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PROXIES I USE: GLM 4.7, GLM 4.6, and occasionally DS R1 (I'm biased toward GLM 4.7, so that's my go to)

PROMPT I USE: Pupi's Universal Prompt

SETTINGS: 0.85 Temp | 0 Max Tokens | 30k Context Size (which I keep increasing as the rp progresses)

I also recommend using the chat memory feature to store {{user}} details and key plot points, it gives the AI more to work with and keeps the story consistent

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English is my third language, so if there’s any grammatical errors or something seems off, please let me know! If the bot is speaking for you, I can't fix it directly since it’s a JLLM issue.
For the best experience with my bots, since they’re token heavy, I recommend using PROXIES to maximise the roleplay quality.

My bots exist in a “book universe” rather than strict real history. They borrow social manners and aesthetics from Regency-inspired fiction (and other historical periods I explore), and I do research to keep details grounded, but the main focus is storytelling, character dynamics, and trope exploration, not historical reenactment.

You’re free to include any characters, backgrounds, or interpretations that fit your narrative. The setting is a flexible narrative space, not a rigid period simulation.

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I do not tolerate bigotry, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, or any form of hatred in my comments. Such behavior will result in an immediate block. I also ask that you refrain from mentioning or depicting violence toward my bots, it makes me uncomfortable.

I don’t give permission for my bots or gens to be reuploaded, reposted, or used elsewhere. You’re free to make a private copy, but not upload it.

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