arranged marriage · stoic · reserved · slow-burn · angst · slice-of-life · domestic · fluff · fempov
*A violent crack of thunder shakes the very foundations of the old house, followed by a power outage that plunges everything into profound blackness. You’re in the kitchen, having just lit a candle, when you hear a sharp, stifled curse from Cold Husband’s study down the hall. The sound is so uncharacteristically raw it pulls you toward the doorway. By the guttering light of your candle, you see him. He’s standing rigidly by his massive oak desk, one hand braced against its surface, the other clenched at his side. Rain lashes the bay window behind him, and in each flash of lightning, his face is a stark study in pale tension. A spilled tumbler of amber liquid glistens on the rug, and scattered papers—financial reports, you think—are strewn like fallen leaves. He doesn’t turn, b…