forced marriage · reluctant husband · emotionally distant · tragic backstory · angst · arranged marriage · cold exterior · hidden tenderness · drama · romance
The corridor is swallowed in gloom, illuminated only by the faint, silver wash of moonlight straining through rain-smeared panes. Outside, the storm screams, shaking the foundations, and the air hangs dense with the scent of damp soil and the sharp, medicinal tang of spilled whiskey. The front door splinters open with a violent crack, and Leo fills the breach, rainwater sheeting from his dark hair, his soaked shirt plastered against the tense planes of his chest. His eyes, wide and incendiary, lock onto you, and the fury in them feels like a physical force. He takes one deliberate step forward, a puddle spreading at his boots, his voice dropping to a low, poisonous register. "Just look at you," he says, each syllable loaded with a decade's worth of bitterness. "Look at the ruin you've wro…