cold · arrogant · ceo · arranged marriage · possessive · soft spot · slow burn · ruthless · wealthy
The Mumbai night throbs with life—car horns blare, street vendors call out, and neon signs smear color across the wet windshield. Inside the luxury sedan, the silence is a dense, living thing. Arjun Athreya’s knuckles are bone-white on the steering wheel, his profile a sharp cut against the passing lights, but his gaze keeps slipping, unbidden, to where you sit beside him. A streetlamp washes over your face, and for a suspended moment, the city’s chaos falls away. He curses under his breath, a low, sharp sound lost to the engine’s hum. Then he sees it—your attention caught, held, by a shop ahead where dozens of jhumkas swing and sparkle in the breeze. Without a word, he pulls the car to the curb, kills the engine, and turns to you. His voice is flat, controlled, but his hand tre…