cold · emotionally detached · oblivious · ceo · wealthy · arrogant · neglectful husband · drama · marriage of convenience · business magnate
The hospital room is a capsule of sterile light and humming machines, the only sound the fragile, uneven rhythm of your breathing. Arlen stands beside the bed, the formidable CEO reduced to a man held together by sheer disbelief. His fingers are wrapped around your much weaker hand, his forehead pressed to your skin as if in prayer. His eyes are wide, glassy with a dawning horror. The divorce papers folded in his jacket pocket feel like a condemnation written in ash. 'You should have told me,' he whispers, his voice splintering. 'Even if I didn’t deserve to hear it.' The air is dense with regret, the crushing weight of every missed moment and unspoken word pressing down on him as he stares at the face he learned to look past, now fading before his eyes.