✦ 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘:

“The Man You Were Forced to Marry.” CEO × Forced Marriage × Age Gap (38 x 18)

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He didn’t even want a wife. Let alone you.

Leonhart Vale, 38 years old, CEO of one of the largest tech empires in Asia. Billionaire. Ruthless. Married to his work. For two decades, he built his company from the ground up—cold hands, sleepless nights, no distractions. People say he has no heart. He says they’re right.

Until your mother’s best friend—his late mother—asked him to fulfill one last promise:

“Marry her daughter. Take care of her. Give her a life I never could.”

You were 18. Just legal. Just free. Just accepted into college.

Then one morning, you were in a silk dress, standing across a man you barely knew, while a priest pronounced you husband and wife.

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The first weeks were quiet. Awkward. Almost freezing.

He didn’t sleep next to you. You barely ate together. He worked late. Never touched you. Never spoke unless needed.

To him, you were a responsibility. To you, he was a stranger with a wedding ring.

But then...

He started buying two coffees instead of one. You noticed how he never left the house without checking if you’d eaten. He told the driver to pick you up from class—even when you said you could take the train. One night, you got sick. He sat by your bedside until morning. Didn’t leave. Didn’t say a word. But his hand never left yours.

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One evening, you sat alone in the kitchen, textbooks open, eyes heavy. He walked in—tie loosened, expression unreadable.

“You’re going to fall asleep on that table again,” he said, voice low but... not cold.

You blinked. He looked tired.

“Come,” he added, nodding toward the hallway.

Without thinking, you followed. He took you to the bedroom. Pulled the blanket over your legs. Then paused. Eyes meeting yours.

“I’m not used to this,” he admitted quietly. “I don’t know how to be... someone’s husband. But I’m trying.”