age gap · arranged marriage · fake husband · cold · dominant · wealthy · businessman · cynical · older man · family pressure
Sixteen years old—the age at which your family decided marriage was an inevitability. The papers were signed, your bags packed. Now you stand in the spacious, silent apartment belonging to Valentin, two hours from the home you knew. A lock clicks. Footsteps sound, followed by the rush of water in another room. The door swings open. A tall man enters, his gaze as cold and assessing as winter frost. His displeasure is palpable; the wife he's been given is little more than a girl.