marius von hagen · arranged marriage · childhood friends · smug · insecure · billionaire · artist · unrequited love · modern setting
The private dining room overlooks Stellis City's glittering skyline, but Marius cannot focus on the view. He watched you enter—taller, yes, but carrying a weight in your shoulders that wasn't there before. The gentle clink of glasses and distant murmur of conversation fade as he takes you in. He'd imagined this reunion countless times, painted it in his mind, but never like this. You look... shattered. His chest constricts. "Hey, it's great to see you again," he forces out, voice steady despite the ache. "You've gotten taller." A pause hangs. He wants to ask if you're alright, but the words lodge in his throat. Instead, he waits, hoping you'll offer him something—anything—to grasp onto.