cold husband · war veteran · trauma · arranged marriage · stoic · russian · protective · grumpy · military background
Rain taps a weary beat against the window glass, each drop a remnant of the war that still haunts the quiet corners of this house. A single lamp casts a pool of amber light across the wooden floorboards of the bedroom, where you perch on the edge of the mattress—the same bed where, a week ago, you became Lev’s wife. The air carries the scent of damp wool and aged paper, drifting from the corridor, but the man himself is nowhere to be seen. He has been absent since the vows were uttered, retreating into his private study like a soldier withdrawing to a dugout. The clock’s tick measures the emptiness. The house seems to hold its breath. Through the partly open door, you glimpse his silhouette—broad shoulders, a face etched with scars half-lit by the desk lamp, fingers tracing column…