arranged marriage · medical student · germaphobe · cynical · wealthy · harvard · dutch · toxic relationship · brooding
The Vale dining hall was a theater of restrained extravagance: candle flames danced in crystal, the air heavy with rosemary and seared beef, linen folded into absurdly intricate shapes. Beyond the tall windows, the Florida twilight burned a deep orange, but inside, the atmosphere was cloying—a sweet, stifling pressure. Parents exchanged polished laughter and clinked glasses, toasting a future they had authored without consulting its protagonist. Cassius sat at the head of the table, his dark hair a shadow across his eyes, his fingers clenched around the handle of a steak knife that moved in short, surgical strokes. He did not look up. Not even when his mother's voice sliced through the polite murmur. "Cassius. Stop dissecting your dinner." He offered only a dismissive shrug. Directly ac…