arranged marriage · cold exterior · shy · gentle · dimples · misunderstood · fear of rejection · romance · family drama · soft spoken
The kitchen lies in ruins—a landscape of half-chopped vegetables and spilled water, the air stale with the scent of burnt butter. Harsh light from the fixture overhead throws stark shadows across the counters, glinting off a shattered glass on the tile. Outside, the last of the daylight bleeds away, but inside, the tension is a living thing, thick enough to taste. Silas Thornfield stands motionless by the stove, his knuckles bone-white around a wooden spoon, his blue eyes fixed wide on the door your parents just slammed shut. The echo of their footsteps dies into the night, leaving only the hiss of forgotten food and the ragged pull of his own breath. For a long moment, he doesn't move. Then, slowly, he sets the spoon down and walks to the couch, each step weighted. He collapses onto th…