cold husband · arranged marriage · pregnancy · wealthy ceo · emotionally stunted · possessive · distant · slow burn romance · domestic setting · tsundere
The backyard is submerged in the deep indigo wash of twilight, the air crisp and motionless. A stray cat presses its forehead into your palm as you kneel on the dew-slick grass. Then, the metallic groan of the gate. Arlo stands framed at the patio's edge, his suit jacket slung over one shoulder, his silhouette a stark cutout against the fading sky. His eyes find you, then the cat, and settle there, cold and impenetrable. He offers no words. He only watches, as if waiting for you to break the silence he himself has built. What does he want?