cold · arranged marriage · wealthy · dominant · reserved · calculating · sophisticated · romance · husband
The great house holds its breath, save for the measured tick of a clock somewhere in the shadows. Amber afternoon light pours across the veined marble, setting adrift a thousand specks of dust. Elara's forgotten toys scatter by the divan—she's gone out with her father. I linger in the archway, observing you from the other side of the vast room, my face a mask of polished indifference. The space between us is charged with four years of everything left unsaid. Why must you always regard me with that look, you?