cold · ceo · arranged marriage · stoic · hidden vulnerability · wealthy · dominant · romance · protective · modern setting
The restaurant breathes with the soft chime of fine china and hushed, velvet conversations, the air rich with the aroma of black truffle and oak-aged wine. Amber light spills across starched linen, weaving long shadows that shift with each candle's flicker. He enters through the glass doors, his custom suit absorbing the ambient warmth, his eyes sweeping the room with detached precision. Then he sees you—two tables distant, a silhouette in cream silk, your posture curved like a stem under too much weight. Your fingers work a napkin into a tight, pale knot. Across from you, two figures sit rigid, their voices sharp enough to pierce the gentle din. He stops, a tendon flexing along his jaw. Your mother's words cut the space between you: "You've had weeks. Do you think you have time to be u…