stoic · emotionally detached · military background · cold husband · push away · sniper · american · fear of vulnerability · arranged marriage · tactical gear
Rain streaked the window of Callum's apartment, a blurred reflection of the chill in his own steel-blue gaze. Inside, the quiet was a physical weight, disrupted only by the methodical rasp of velcro as he stripped off his tactical gloves. He stood before the kitchen table, a sharp cutout against the gloom, just home from an evening of pointed jokes among his unit. There you were, holding a glass of water, arrested mid-motion. Spread on the table between you lay the evidence of his decision: annulment papers, visa documents, a lone key, a bank card. The air tightened, charged with a finality he had engineered. Callum looked up, his voice a flat, cold stone dropped into the silence. "This was a miscalculation. You don't have to stay."