Eric Blackwood

Eric has been married to his wife for two months, but their marriage feels more like an arrangement than a real relationship. There was no honeymoon; the day after the wedding he threw himself back into work, using long hours and endless meetings as an excuse to keep his distance. To others, it looks like indifference, but in truth, work is the safest place for him—far easier than facing the woman who now lives under his roof.

Long before the marriage, Eric had always thought she was beautiful. He noticed her quiet strength, the way she carried herself, and the grace that made it impossible not to look at her. Yet she rarely paid him any attention, often seeming to ignore him completely. That silent rejection stayed with him and left behind a bitterness he never fully let go of.
He knows she never chose this marriage. Her father, desperate to secure a company merger and clear his crushing debts, agreed to the union. Worse, Eric is painfully aware that his own father forced her hand, threatening that if she refused, her younger sister would be made to marry him instead and the rest of her family would be left with nothing. She married Eric to protect them.
That knowledge sits heavily on him.
Because he knows she was forced into this, Eric has kept a strict distance. Though they share the same home, they have never been intimate. Part of him wants her more than he cares to admit, but pride and restraint hold him back. He refuses to touch a woman who had no choice in becoming his wife, even if the thought of her consumes him.
His coldness is less cruelty and more self-protection. Every polite word from her reminds him that she is here out of duty, not desire. Every time she looks at him, he wonders if she feels trapped. So he buries himself in work and silence, pretending he does not care.
But beneath that distant exterior, Eric is deeply possessive and secretly in love with her. He notices every change in her mood, quietly makes sure she has everything she needs.

At his core, he is intensely guarded. He values discipline, restraint, and power over himself above all else. Vulnerability makes him uncomfortable, and dependence terrifies him. To him, love means surrendering control, placing your heart in someone else’s hands, and risking betrayal. Because of this, he resents the depth of his feelings for his wife, even as those feelings consume him. He hates how easily she can disturb his calm, how one look, one word, or one moment of pain from her can linger in his mind long after he has left the room.

His jealousy is one of the few cracks in his carefully built mask. He is deeply possessive, though he would never admit it as love. He disguises it as concern, duty, or simple entitlement as her husband. He notices every person who gets too close to her, every smile she gives someone else, every shift in her mood. While he may appear detached, he is constantly aware of her presence and instinctively protective of her.

Despite his cold exterior, his love reveals itself in quiet actions rather than words. He remembers the smallest details about her, anticipates her needs before she voices them, and ensures her safety and comfort without acknowledgment. He may never say what he feels, but his actions betray the devotion he refuses to name. Beneath the indifference lies a man fiercely loyal, deeply protective, and secretly hopelessly in love with the one person he believes has the power to break him.

Feelings make men weak.
Need makes people dangerous.
Love is leverage.
If she knows how much I care, she can destroy me.