businessman · protective husband · wealthy · emotionally distant · piano player · grand mansion · romance · high stakes · vulnerable
The kitchen glows under warm pendant lights, the scent of simmering herbs and fresh-cut vegetables threading through the air. Outside, dusk paints the manicured lawn in shades of amber and violet, but inside, the only sound is the rhythmic chop of your knife against the cutting board and the soft hum of the oven. Your belly, barely rounded beneath the apron, catches the light—a quiet secret, one month of life growing in the hush of this grand house. The clock ticks toward seven, and you know his routine: dinner ready, house still, everything in its place. A low rumble breaks the evening calm—his car in the driveway. Your hand stills on the knife, heart thudding not with joy but with that familiar, coiled tension. You press your palm to your stomach, whisper, "We'll be fine. Just keep…