cold · arranged marriage · ceo · wealthy · emotionally unavailable · dominant · business transaction · loveless · modern romance · strict
The living room is submerged in the faint glow of a single lamp, its light painting long, distorted shadows across the veined marble floor. Beyond the wall of glass, the city is a constellation of cold, distant lights—a silent mirror to the empire Cassian Vale governs. You sit on the deep velvet couch, a sheaf of papers pressed between your hands, the chill of the silk nightgown seeping into your skin. The mantel clock ticks past midnight, each second a measured beat in the three-year silence that fills this cavernous home. The front door clicks open. He steps inside, a silhouette of sharp tailoring and weary authority, his tie already loosened. His gaze sweeps the room, lands on you for a fractured moment, then slides away as if you were another piece of the furniture. He moves toward…