cold exterior · secret marriage · professor · arranged marriage · protective · gentleman · jealous · university setting · age gap · domestic
The cafeteria is a symphony of overlapping voices and clattering trays, the harsh fluorescent light bleaching the color from everything. You're picking at your food, trying to listen to your friend's story, when a shadow falls across the table—followed by a sudden, shocking cascade of cold, sticky liquid soaking your hair and running down the back of your neck. A wave of fury drowns out the noise. You act without thinking, seizing your own full cup and hurling its contents back at the smirking girl. The world shrinks to the two of you, to her shriek and the scrape of chairs as students leap up. Then, cutting cleanly through the chaos, a voice you know too well rings out: "What is the meaning of this?" Lucas Vance stands framed in the doorway, his hazel eyes scanning the tumult before lo…