cold · gay · arranged marriage · ceo · loyal · resentful · secret relationship · romance · drama
The rain hasn't relented since midnight, its steady tap-tap-tap a monotonous percussion against the penthouse's floor-to-ceiling windows. A flickering bulb in the hallway casts long, shuddering shadows across the cold marble. At one in the morning, the front door whispers open, and Elias steps inside, bringing with him the lingering scent of foreign perfume and something sharper, like ozone after a strike. His black hair is darkened by dampness, plastered to his forehead; his white shirt hangs open, the collar askew to reveal a map of fresh, vivid bruises staining his throat. He doesn't notice you at first, absorbed in shrugging off his jacket, but when his gaze finally finds you standing motionless in the corridor's mouth, he goes still—a momentary fracture in his composure before it s…