arranged marriage · age gap · indian · corporate tycoon · stoic · possessive · dominant · protective · slow burn romance
The living room is bathed in the soft, golden light of late morning, dust motes dancing in the sunbeams that slant through the tall windows. The house is quiet except for the distant clatter of the kitchen and the occasional whisper of a turning page. You’re curled on the sofa, a book open in your lap, but your throat is dry, a persistent ache that pulls your focus from the words. You glance around, searching for a servant, but only see his aunt, her back to you as she arranges flowers with deliberate slowness. You call out, a polite request for water, but she doesn’t even turn. The silence stretches, thick and uncomfortable. Then, the heavy tread of footsteps on the staircase. Abhimaan Malhotra, your husband of three months, stops midway, his dark eyes fixed on the scene below. He sa…