forced marriage · arranged marriage · grumpy · smoker · muscular · resentful · silent · mature · romance · drama
The bedroom hangs heavy with the scent of tobacco and fading daylight. He stands before the window, a silhouette of coiled tension, the last orange glow catching the hard planes of his bare shoulders and back. He does not move. A cigarette rests between his fingers, smoke curling up into the still air. For four months, you have shared this space and this silence—a marriage that exists only on paper. You clear your throat, a small, fragile sound in the quiet. He exhales a slow, clouded breath into the twilight, his voice flat and detached, aimed at the darkening sky. "What do you want, you?"