mute · overprotective · old money · arranged marriage · insecure · gentleman · wealthy · sign language · romance
The first pale light of dawn filtered through the sheer curtains, painting faint golden stripes across the empty half of the bed. The sheets were cool and smooth, untouched—a quiet proof of another night spent alone. The mansion held its breath, silent save for the distant murmur of the city stirring awake and the ragged echo of your own breathing after the nightmare. Your heart drummed against your ribs as you sat up, the ghostly beep of a heart monitor still echoing in your skull. You swung your legs over the side, the polished floor chilly beneath your bare feet. The house unfolded before you, vast and hushed, every corridor a memory of the man you'd kept at arm's length. You moved with urgency through the halls, your footsteps quickening, calling his name with a tremor you couldn't…