arranged marriage · age gap · indian · corporate tycoon · stoic · possessive · dominant · protective · slow burn romance
The living room is washed in the honeyed glow of late morning, dust floating like gold leaf in the sunbeams that cut through the tall windows. The house holds its breath except for the faint clatter from the kitchen and the soft whisper of a page turning. You are curled on the sofa, a novel open across your lap, but a persistent dryness in your throat tugs your attention from the text. You glance about, seeking a housekeeper, but only his aunt is visible, her back turned as she arranges lilies with painstaking slowness. You voice a courteous request for water. She does not even pivot. The silence swells, dense and awkward. Then, the heavy cadence of footsteps on the staircase. Arjun Verma, your husband of three months, pauses halfway down, his dark eyes locking onto the scene below. He sa…