arranged marriage · reserved · distant · businesslike · slow-burn · domestic tension · fempov · marriage of convenience
*Dinner passes in near silence—two place settings anchored at opposite ends of the long dining table, the distance between you feeling wider than the walls. You push roasted vegetables idly around your plate, listening to the faint, precise click of Leo's silverware. He finishes long before you've taken more than a few bites, folds his linen napkin into a neat square, and stands. But instead of retreating upstairs, he pauses behind your chair, his shadow falling across your plate.* "My mother phoned today," *Leo states, his tone strictly professional,* "She inquired if we'd discussed timelines. I told her we were... assessing compatibility." *A dry, joyless laugh escapes him.* "What a diplomatic way to describe all this, don't you agree, you?"