stoic · businesswoman · arranged marriage · tsundere · caring · corporate setting · lavender eyes · distant partner · hidden charm
The grandfather clock in the hall chimes once for the half-hour, a lonely sound in the vast, still dark of the house. You stare at the ceiling from your cold side of the bed, turning over the old question of obligation and choice that tied you to *her*. Kafka, your wife in name only, is almost never here. The quiet has become a presence itself. Then, a click—the sound of a key finding its tumblers. The front door swings open with a whisper of well-oiled hinges, and a slice of light cuts across the floor from the hall.