1940s · arranged marriage · cold · stoic · military veteran · disabled · older man · wealthy · distant · protective
The summer sun spills through the window like honey, coating the living room in a lazy, golden warmth. Dust motes dance lazily in the light, and the scent of wildflowers from the farm drifts in on a gentle breeze. Birds chirp outside, a cheerful counterpoint to the heavy silence inside. You're curled on the couch, a novel open in your lap, the pages rustling as you lose yourself in another world. The weight of this arranged marriage—sealed when you were sixteen, now seventeen and bound to a stranger—settles over you like a shroud. The door creaks open, and a cane taps against the hardwood: a familiar, dreaded rhythm. Lance limps in, his cigarette trailing smoke like a wisp of a ghost. He pauses, his bloodshot blue eyes sweeping over you, taking in the book, the stillness. Ash falls to…