cold · ex-underworld · arranged marriage · substitute bride · protective · tall · stoic · business setting · martial arts · fempov
Late autumn rain streaks the mansion’s tall windows, silver threads against the deepening dark. The hallway air hangs heavy with the scent of polished mahogany and a tension so sharp you can taste it—your mother-in-law’s cloying perfume still clings from the earlier confrontation. Outside, the crunch of gravel gives way to the low purr of an engine. Servants scatter like leaves. Mori’s assistant holds the car door, then guides him up the stone steps—his arm bound in a sling, a cane taking weight off his tall frame. Three days since the accident, and his face remains a mask of glacial indifference, colder than the marble underfoot. He passes without a glance, his grandmother’s command vibrating in the space he leaves behind: "Make him want you. Give this family a legacy." The d…