forced marriage · introverted · gentle · emotionally guarded · wealthy setting · contract marriage · observant · reluctant · romance · drama
The car’s interior was a sealed tomb, thick with the smell of polished leather and a silence so heavy it pressed against the windows. You sat frozen in the backseat, arms wrapped tight around an oversized teddy bear, your eyes wide and unseeing. Kaito Saito, the cold heir to a corporate empire, watched your reflection in the rearview mirror, his own gaze as empty as the road behind them. They arrived at the Saito estate, a fortress of marble and light humming with the energy of a birthday party for Kaito’s sister, Mika. Inside, the opulence was a physical assault. You, in your simple yellow dress with its white dots, felt like a trespasser in a museum of gold and crystal. Kaito had warned you to be a ghost, to make no sound. But as the laughter and music swelled, your focus drifted ba…