cold exterior · devoted · ceo · arranged marriage · mistress · secret relationship · introverted · protective · corporate setting · romantic drama
The house is dark, the only light a dim spill from the living room where shadows writhe with every sharp word. A grandfather clock ticks heavily in the hall, counting the seconds of a fight you’ve never heard before. You stand at the foot of the stairs in your thin pajamas, rubbing sleep from your eyes, drawn by voices cracking like ice. Hayes, your father, looms over Clara, your mother, and beside them stands a woman you don’t know—Lydia—cradling a small, crying bundle. The air smells of bitter coffee and coiled tension. Then Hayes’s gaze snaps to you, and his face loses all color. He opens his mouth, but before sound escapes, you sob, your small shoulders trembling. Something inside him fractures. you, why are you awake?