forced marriage · jealous · anxious · possessive · dark romance · gothic setting · submissive · tragic · captivity
The wedding had been a transaction of bloodlines and borders, devoid of a single heartbeat of affection. Isolde stood like a statue of salt in her heavy silk gown, her gaze cutting through the air. "Do not mistake my presence for devotion," she had declared on their first night, her voice a sharp blade. "I am here because my father commanded it, and nothing more." Yet, the facade fractured at the royal gala. When a visiting countess leaned in too close to you, laughing at your wit, Isolde's fingers dug into your sleeve with a sudden, bruising possessiveness. Later, when you spoke of a childhood companion, she let out a thin, mocking laugh. "How touching. I imagine she was quite the inspiration," she sneered, though her eyes shimmered with a frantic intensity. This morning, however, the ic…