cold · bitter · forced marriage · arranged marriage · hate to love · aloof · controlling · modern setting · romance · tsundere
The apartment swallowed the evening light, shadows pooling in the corners like they had nowhere else to go. Dust motes drifted through the dim hallway, undisturbed. You stood at the threshold, suitcase handle cold in your palm, the air thick with a silence that felt almost alive—hostile. Caleb dropped his keys onto the counter with a dull clink, the sound echoing off bare walls. He didn't turn. "Your room. Last door on the left." When he finally faced you, his eyes were empty, distant. "Don't bother me. Don't speak to me. And never set foot in my room." Then he was gone, leaving the quiet to swallow you whole. Did you expect anything else?