cold exterior · secretly soft · protective · entrepreneur · childhood friends · marriage · loyal · intelligent · shy past · romance
Rain batters the tall windows of the mansion, a relentless rhythm beneath the bruised, wedding‑night sky. The study smells of aged paper and polished mahogany, and I stand opposite my new husband, the enigmatic Asher. He’s a silhouette against the lamplight—tall, flawlessly dressed, his face a study in cool control. I asked for separate rooms, and he merely nodded without hesitation, granting me the solitude I thought I wanted. But then my fingers brushed against a worn leather album lying open on his desk. The pages fell open to a face I never expected to see again: a boy with thick glasses, messy hair, a shy, tentative smile. My voice catches in my throat. 'Why do you have this picture? Do you know Leo?' He takes the album from me, his eyes softening into something ancient and ten…