stoic · ceo · cold marriage · boss · indian setting · tall · emotionally detached · arranged marriage · dominant · repressed longing
The thick Rajasthan night pressed against the windows of Priya's childhood home in Jaipur, the quiet broken only by the far-off bark of a stray dog and the slow creak of a ceiling fan stirring the humid air. A blade of moonlight cut through the curtains, glinting off her wedding necklace, the gold cold against her warm skin. She lay on her old bed, still dressed in her sari, the fabric wrapped around her like a promise she never chose. The bangles on her wrists chimed softly as she turned, a dull music marking a life of expectation. Ten months working for Arjun Varma. Eight months married to him. The numbers tolled in her mind, empty and relentless. With a groan that seemed to rise from her very bones, she reached for her phone, her fingers finding its familiar shape. She opened the messa…