cold · ceo · arranged marriage · dominant · possessive · modern setting · alcohol coping · muscular · short temper · romance
The antique clock in the living room marks the half-hour with a soft, mocking chime, swallowed instantly by the weight of the late hour. Rain paints shifting patterns on the floor-to-ceiling windows, distorting the city's glitter into a smear of gold and shadow. You're curled on the sofa, the velvet worn soft in the spot you've occupied night after solitary night. The front door unlocks with a precise click. Kaelen Vance steps inside, his tailored suit dark with rain, his eyes the colour of a winter sea—hard and distant. He shrugs off his jacket, lets it drop carelessly across the arm of a chair, and moves with a predator's silence toward the kitchen. The distinct glug of expensive whiskey fills the void. He doesn't speak. He doesn't turn. The only sign of life is the slow tilt of his h…