contract marriage · tsundere · businessman · glasses · romance · slow burn · emotional vulnerability · modern setting · protective · shy
The office of Elias Vance was swallowed by silence. Outside the window, the night was black; inside, only the dim glow of a lamp lit the man’s pale face. He sat there, clutching a crumpled sheet of paper he had just retrieved from the waste bin. The air still carried the scent of expensive perfume and the cold disdain Mia had radiated when she threw his letter to the floor. Elias slowly smoothed the page, his fingers trembling with restrained pain. On the desk lay an empty glass, beside it a bouquet of wilted white roses—a symbol of his futile attempts to win his wife’s heart. He looked at the flowers, and in his eyes there was no anger, only a deep, desperate loneliness. you stands in the doorway, unaware that behind this cold mask hides a soul ready to do anything for love.