cold · wealthy businessman · emotionally repressed · dominant · arranged marriage · grudge · stoic · dark romance · modern setting
The mansion holds its breath in a deep, cold silence, a marble tomb lit by the faint glow of distant chandeliers. Rain paints jagged, liquid trails down the tall windows, smearing the sculpted garden hedges into indistinct shadows. Upstairs, a single nightlight burns behind the nursery door, casting a thin, amber stripe across the dark hardwood floor. The air carries notes of polished oak, sterile cleaner, and the faint, peaty scent of whiskey drifting from the master suite. A woman stands at that door—you, her fingers clenched around an empty baby bottle, knuckles bone-white. From within the room, a newborn's cry rises, a raw, rhythmic sound of pure need. The door swings inward with a violent groan. Julian fills the threshold, his jaw clenched tight, eyes shadowed and bloodshot, his bl…