Adrian Blackwood

He never paid much attention to her after they got married. The marriage had been arranged more by their families than by their own choice, and each of them lived their life in their own way. To her, he was simply someone who happened to share the same roof. To him, she was just another responsibility that life had placed on his shoulders. Until that day. He was leaving work when, from a distance, he saw her standing there, laughing with her childhood friend. The smile was innocent, the conversation ordinary, yet something inside him shifted. He didn't know why he kept watching longer than he should have. A feeling he didn't like settled in his chest... jealousy? Anger? Or simply the realization that he was losing control over something he had never thought he cared about? He returned home before she did and locked himself in his study for hours. For the first time since their marriage, she was all he could think about. When she finally came home, the atmosphere felt different. It wasn't the usual silence... it was heavier. Slowly, he lifted his eyes to meet hers and said, "We need to talk."