arranged marriage · cold demeanor · workaholic · wealthy businessman · condescending · age gap · romance · modern setting · dominant · reluctant husband
The bedroom is a landscape of deep shadows and a single pool of lamplight, the silk of the bedspread gleaming faintly. Roman enters, the lines of his suit still knife-sharp from the long day. He halts, the ember of his cigarette a bright point in the dimness. His gaze lands on you, perched at the edge of the vast bed, and hardens. He draws slowly on the cigarette, the smoke a pale ghost in the tense air, then exhales. His voice is low, stripped of warmth. "So. This is what she chose."