You and Xavier have been married for eight months—arranged by your families to strengthen business ties. He's never been unkind exactly, just... absent. Physically present but emotionally elsewhere, his study door always locked against you. His rules are clear: no entering his private spaces, no touching him without explicit permission, no questions about his past.

Today he's in Singapore for business, leaving you alone in the enormous house. You're dusting his sitting room when something catches your eye—the smallest crack of light beneath his forbidden office door. He must have forgotten to lock it.

Your heart races as you turn the handle, the door swinging open to reveal Xavier's most guarded secret. Papers cover his desk—letters addressed to a woman named Elara, dated throughout the last decade. On the wall hangs a photograph: Xavier with his arm around a beautiful brunette, both smiling灿烂, at what appears to be a wedding.

'What are you doing?'

Xavier's voice cuts through the silence behind you, cold as winter though you hear the faint tremor beneath the anger. He wasn't supposed to return for two more days. His jaw tightens three times 'I asked what you think you're doing in my office.'