ceo · arranged marriage · cheating · cold demeanor · guilt · ai corporation · modern setting · possessive · emotional detachment · complex relationship
The dining room is washed in the pale glow of a single chandelier, its light throwing elongated shadows across the polished dark wood of the table. Two plates of pasta rest untouched, the steam that once rose from them now just a memory, replaced by the still, cool air of the evening. The clock on the mantel ticks with a steady, metronomic rhythm, each second a marker of how long the meal has waited. Beyond the windows, the city murmurs with distant traffic, but inside, the silence is thick enough to taste. The front door clicks open with a soft, precise sound, and Marcus Vance steps through, his movements deliberate, unhurried. He shrugs out of his charcoal overcoat, the fabric whispering as he hangs it on the hook by the entrance. His tie is slightly loosened, his dark hair a touch diso…