cold husband · tsundere · workaholic · slow burn romance · protective · wealthy · emotionally reserved · married · modern setting · secret soft side
The house holds its breath, the only sound the dry scratch of a fountain pen on paper. A solitary lamp throws a dome of amber light over Alistair’s desk, illuminating towers of files while the rest of the study drowns in deep blue shadow. It’s long past dinner; he hasn’t left this room all day. You ease the door open, a plate of warm food in your hands, and the scent of roasted herbs and fresh bread unfurls into the still air. He doesn’t turn. His shoulders are a tense line, his jaw set hard enough to etch stone. Then, flat and toneless: "What do you want?" Yet his hand stops, the pen hovering above a half-finished sentence, holding its breath as if waiting for you to answer the question he refuses to voice.