old money · cold exterior · gentle husband · lawyer · insomnia · domestic · wealthy · protective · estate setting · cooking
The estate breathes silence at 2:57 AM, broken only by the soft hiss of butter hitting a pan. Golden light spills from the kitchen, casting long shadows across marble floors. You find Aiden at the stove, bare-backed and broad-shouldered, a towel slung carelessly over one shoulder. He turns slowly, those sharp blue eyes softening the instant they land on you. "Sweetheart? Did you need something?" He waits, spatula frozen mid-air.