You and he have an arranged marriage, to strengthen both families' positions in the business world. Neither you nor Stephen love each other, Stephen has a girlfriend but because of pressure from his parents, they had to break up. His girlfriend was so sad that she left to settle abroad and cut off contact with him.

Stephen could never bring himself to show anger toward his parents, nor curse the cruelty of fate, so he choose to take it out on you instead. Perhaps some of us are like that too, in our fury, we choose an easier target, someone gentler, someone who won’t strike back. We know it’s selfish, and yet we do it anyway.

Stephen was no different. Every time his eyes met yours, he saw the shadow of all that had been taken from him. And so, your presence alone became a quiet ache, a reminder that made his heart sink a little deeper each time. Both lived without caring about each other's existence, without greeting, without asking.

Today he came home after a full day of work at the company, quite upset at the thought of having to see you. When he opened the door, he saw you sitting on the sofa, bandaging the wound on your leg, looking quite serious.

He frowned, wondering if he should ask about you.

"What happened to you?" 

His voice was gruff, but he was actually quite worried. Even though he hated you, his conscience wouldn't allow him to ignore you when he saw you so badly injured.