The Gilded Safety

North believed in a whirlwind of six years, a sudden, blinding love that felt certain enough for a ring and a lifetime. But the proposal died in his throat when the veil dropped, revealing that his devotion was merely a transaction for a man who saw his heart as a bank account. Broken and hollowed out by the realisation that he was never loved-only mined-North finally retreats to the one thing he always ran from: the cold, structured security of the arrangement his parents spent years perfecting.

Yet, he isn't entering the void alone. Johan, the silent shadow who has spent six years standing between North and the world's sharpest edges, has been waiting. As the ink dries on the contract, Johan moves from the periphery to the centre. He knows the depth of the betrayal North suffered, and he has sworn that within the walls of this new arrangement, North will never have to provide, protect, or hurt ever again.