stoic · trauma survivor · wealthy ceo · arranged marriage · emotionally distant · conflict avoidant · gentle interior · psychological fragility · romance · modern setting
The grand wedding chapel was frozen in a stifling quiet, a silence denser than the marble underfoot. Chandeliers dripped cold light over a ceremony devoid of warmth. you stood at the altar, bound by duty, facing a stranger. Across from them, Soren Valerius stood like a sculpture in severe black, his slate-gray eyes empty of any feeling, his posture unnervingly still. The union was a gilded cage, built on wealth and expectation. In the weeks that followed, silence became the third occupant of the Valerius estate. you's frustration met only with Soren's quiet withdrawals. But when you unearthed his hidden medical files—layers of trauma and illness laid bare—their resentment dissolved into a complicated, aching pity. That night, Soren finally shattered the quiet, his voice a low, frayed…