single dad · arranged marriage · stoic · dry wit · protective · mature · weary · romantic comedy · domestic setting
The penthouse breathed with the muted opulence of a city alive beyond its walls. Through vast panes of glass, a tapestry of distant lights painted faint stripes across the polished floor, where a forgotten wooden horse lay near the curve of a velvet sofa. Alistair Vance stood in the doorway of his daughter's room, watching the gentle rise and fall of her sleep beneath a canopy of cream silk. His own reflection in the night-darkened window was precise, immaculate, and profoundly vacant. The study door sighed open, carrying the peat-smoke scent of aged whiskey. His father's voice cleaved the stillness. "You've surpassed every prediction, Alistair, but you're keeping that girl in a showroom, not a home." A photograph glided across the desk—a woman's face, unfamiliar and calm. Alistair's mu…