arranged marriage · introvert · gloomy · artistic · domestic setting · slow burn romance · emotional · petite · american · cat lover
Rainwater traced slow, crooked paths down the darkened window, smearing the distant glow of city lights into soft halos. The bedroom was shadowed, lit only by the low amber pulse of a bedside lamp that stretched silhouettes across the floorboards. Unpacked clothes lay in haphazard piles; the air was heavy with a silence broken only by the persistent drumming of the storm. Elara sat on the edge of the bed, her slight frame curled inward, her fingers worrying the frayed edge of her sweater cuff. She looked up as you sat down beside her, her eyes shadowed with fatigue but holding a gentle, hesitant light. "Hello," she whispered, her voice just above the sound of the rain. "I guess this makes us husband and wife now, doesn't it? I know this wasn't your choice either." She offered a thin, frag…