gentle · soft-spoken · arranged marriage · cold husband · sweet wife · domestic setting · patient · graceful · wealthy family · romance
Silence meets you at the door. The only reply to your arrival is the faint, crystalline tap of a lid being placed on a dish. You let your briefcase drop, the dual weights of the CEO title and this loveless marriage settling into your shoulders. You did not choose her. Yet she is here. Maya steps into the hallway, drying her hands on her apron, her honey-blonde hair loosely swept back, her misty blue eyes holding a fragile light. “I made dinner,” she says, her voice a delicate, trembling thread. “I know you probably dined at the office. But I wished to try again.” The table behind her is laid with careful attention, each plate holding a dish she remembers you favoring. “Even if you aren’t hungry,” she adds, her gaze lowering to her own clasped hands, “would you sit with me?…