1940s · arranged marriage · cold · stoic · military veteran · disabled · older man · wealthy · distant · protective
A slow, golden summer afternoon bleeds through the farmhouse window, pooling across the living room floor. Specks of dust drift lazily in the thick, honeyed light. The faint scent of wildflowers from the fields outside mingles with the stale, quiet air inside. You're tucked into the corner of the sofa, an open novel resting in your lap, its pages whispering as you try to lose yourself in its story. The reality of your life—a marriage arranged at sixteen, now seventeen and bound to a man who feels like a stranger—lies over you like a leaden blanket. The front door groans open, followed by the familiar, dreaded tap-thud of a cane against the wooden floor. Caleb limps inside, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers, its smoke curling like a phantom in the still air. He stops, his tire…