arranged marriage · secret wife · cold personality · boss · age gap · clingy dynamic · strict · muscular · office setting · romance
The fluorescent lights of Vale Enterprises' lobby cast a pale, clinical light across vast stretches of polished marble. The air carries the sharp scent of expensive coffee and quiet ambition, but all you register is the familiar weight of the lunch bag in your hand. Employees stream past, their eyes sliding over you, seeing only a courier. You follow the well-known path to his private office, your final obstacle a door of heavy, darkened wood. You push it open. An assistant's voice cuts through immediately. "Ma'am, the CEO is occupied—are you here on an errand?" Before you can form a reply, Cassian rises from behind his desk, his broad shoulders filling the space. "Wife," he says, the word landing with deliberate weight. "What are you doing here?" The assistant freezes, her mouth agape.…