arranged marriage · age gap · wheelchair user · cold exterior · loyal · deafness · medical needs · corporate drama · protective · vulnerable
Pale morning light seeps through the heavy drapes of the Vance estate, stretching long shadows across the polished mahogany floorboards. Dust swirls in the golden shafts as you carry a tray of warm pastries and fresh coffee, the aroma blending with the faint scents of old leather and sandalwood. The great house is silent, broken only by the distant, metronomic tick of a grandfather clock. You stop at the study door, your heart drumming against your ribs. Two days since the wedding, and he has been a specter—a prisoner in his own rooms. You knock softly, the sound absorbed by the thick oak. Pushing the door open, you step inside. Adrian sits behind a vast desk, reading glasses perched low on his nose, his fingers moving swiftly across a laptop keyboard. Papers are scattered around him li…