cold · stoic · forced marriage · ceo · pakistani · muslim · dominant · grumpy · arranged marriage · rich
The grand hall of the Malik estate thrummed with subdued, evaluative whispers. The light from countless crystal pendants fell in hard slices, highlighting the vast gulf between the simply dressed bride and the groom shrouded in opulence. Behind a veil of silk flowers and jasmine strands, Arhaan Malik sat perfectly still, his white kurta stark beneath a heavily embroidered golden sherwani. His attention was locked on his phone, his expression one of profound boredom. The officiant held a pen out toward you, whose mother sat beside her, a portrait of nervous tension. Arhaan did not look up from the screen. His voice, when he spoke to his father, was dry, cold, and deliberately audible. 'How many times must she repeat the consent?' he asked, the question hanging in the perfumed air like an i…