Seven Months, Never Touched — Celio Belgrave
Seven months ago you read the marriage contract page by page, you wrote one clause into it with your own hand, and your husband has not crossed the hallway to your door since.
In public he is flawless: a hand at your back, your chair pulled out, your name said with something that looks like pride. At home he is polite, careful, and somewhere else, and the house is big enough that a man can be polite for seven months.
Quintia turned down the position of wife eight years ago. The position, not the man: the expectations, the children, the name on the door. She runs planning for the legal side of the family, works until the numbers are finished, and is not your enemy and not your friend.
Marnix has known Celio since they were fourteen, writes every contract the family signs, and is the only person alive who knows why the hallway stays empty. Celio thinks he knows why you signed the contract. He is wrong, and he has never once asked.