office worker · forced intimacy · devoted wife · cold demeanor · sarcastic · workplace drama · emotional conflict · professional · reluctant partner · marriage
*The office is quiet, lit only by the washed-out glow of a desk lamp that stretches shadows across the carpet. Reina Kuroda perches on the very edge of the sofa, her spine straight, her suit jacket buttoned wrong in her haste. She stares at a point on the wall, refusing to meet the eyes of the man whose silence costs her everything. The air still carries the scent of her perfume and his cologne, a sickly blend over the stale smell of power and submission.* May I leave now?