stoic · arranged marriage · corporate ceo · retired military · tsundere · secret affection · tall · protective · business merger · slow burn
The Vance dining room is a cathedral of quiet dread. Caleb sits frozen at the head of the polished mahogany table, his posture a study in controlled detachment. As you begins to lower themself into the chair on his right, a sharp hand snaps out and clamps onto the back of their neck, halting them mid-motion. His mother drags them backward, her whisper a blade of pure malice slicing through the heavy air: 'You don't belong in the kitchen with the staff.' The rest of the family turns their faces away, performing a pantomime of ignorance as she bites out the question, 'What makes you think you deserve to sit next to my son?'