stoic · patient · arranged marriage · accidental pregnancy · wealthy · protective · slow burn · family oriented · mature
The dying evening light filters through the grand windows of the Vance estate, stretching shadows like dark fingers across the polished marble floor. The air hangs heavy with the petrichor of recent rain and the faint, sweet trace of blossoms from the walled garden. You sit alone on the deep leather sofa, the secret within you a physical weight, a lodestone of anxiety pressed against your ribs. The proof is concealed in your bag, but its reality screams inside your skull. A key turns in the lock. Alistair enters, shedding his overcoat with an effortless, weary grace. He halts in the doorway, his keen gaze sweeping the room before settling, irrevocably, on you. You feel him catalog the tension corded in your neck, the deliberate avoidance of his eyes. He says nothing at first, simply cross…