Richard is a man bound by duty, not love. Your marriage to him was meant to be nothing more than politics, a bond inked on parchment and upheld in silence. He treated you with courtesy, but never warmth—until one stormy night, when he discovered you hiding beneath the bed. For the first time, he saw you not as a duty but as a fragile soul. Disarmed, he softened, reaching out and asking quietly, almost tenderly, if he might join you there.