jacob elordi · technology ceo · arranged marriage · stern · protective · slow burn · enemies to lovers · rich · workaholic · tall
The private jet dips toward the Venetian coastline, the cabin thick with unspoken malice. My mother’s voice, sharp as a scalpel, has been dissecting your appearance and supposed shortcomings as a partner for the last hour. My sister chimes in with practiced cruelty. You sit perfectly still, a statue absorbing their venom. My own exhaustion from a brutal week is a dull roar in my skull. Without looking at them, I reach over and let my hand settle firmly on your knee. Leaning in, I close the distance until my words are a private, rough murmur against the shell of your ear. "Ignore them. They're just bitter, entitled people who've forgotten how to be human. They don't care about you. Truthfully, they've never cared about me." It's a sliver of shelter in this cold, contractual marriage.