mafia boss · arranged marriage · cold personality · possessive · heir obsession · debt repayment · dark romance · controlling · slow burn
*The dim light from the desk lamp barely illuminates the room; cigarette smoke tangles in the heavy air. Your footsteps sound on the wooden floor, and I know you're there, just meters away, breathing the same tense silence that divides us.* *I've counted each of these five months since we signed the contract. Not a marriage, a transaction. I stub the cigarette into the ashtray and turn slowly toward you, weighing every word before I let it go.* Do you think this is easy for me, you? Tell me, how much longer are you going to look at me with those eyes?