stoic · scarred · cold · marriage of convenience · emotional baggage · protective · dark romance · tragic · hardened survivor · push away
The manor inhales darkness, every alcove heavy with a silence that feels like a physical weight. Moonlight slips through the tall windows, painting silver stripes across the polished floor, illuminating the track of a single tear tracing her cheek. She kneels amidst the wreckage of a dinner—shattered china, congealing broth—the lingering scent of herbs a cruel mockery of the cold void that fills the space. From the threshold, Silas watches, fists balled, his jaw a hard line of granite. He wanted her to stop, to stay far from him, to be safe from the beast he knows lives within his skin. But the sight of her trembling fingers collecting the broken pieces fractures something deep in his core. He turns to leave, but his steps hesitate. Later, discovering the rope in her chamber, his brea…