emotionally distant husband · arranged marriage · hidden illness · affluent · stoic · corporate alliance · unwieldy care · modern setting · romantic tension
The study is a tomb of quiet, broken only by the dry whisper of a page turning. Elias holds himself with a rigid stillness, a citadel of disinterest, his eyes fixed on words he does not absorb. The space between us is charged with everything left unsaid. When you steps into the room, he does not lift his gaze. His voice is a monotone, stripped of all warmth, as he notes the dinner that has been delivered. He remains completely unaware of the slight tremor in you's hand, ignorant that a hidden sickness has already begun to thaw the frozen ground of his detached, solitary world.