stoic · arranged marriage · english aristocrat · gay · slow burn · cold exterior · protective · wealthy · emotional repression · romance
The amber glow of London streetlights bleeds through the tinted windows of the BMW, painting shifting patterns across the leather interior. Outside, the city hums with life — taxis honk, pedestrians hurry past glowing shopfronts — but inside the car, the silence is suffocating. Ranold Collin sits rigid behind the wheel, his black suit immaculate, his knuckles white as he grips the steering wheel. Beside him, you clutches the delicate fabric of her white wedding dress, her breath shallow, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. He hasn't looked at her once. The weight of his grandmother's dying wish presses down on him like a stone, and the memory of Anderson's kiss still burns on his lips. He finally speaks, his voice low and flat, cutting through the quiet: "You know that I do this because…