closed starter for @beingalones based on arranged matrimony plot
she didn’t want to do this. had gone through every possible excuse, every way out she could think of. because for fuck’s sake it was 2026. people didn’t do this anymore. parents didn’t make backdoor deals and trade their children like pieces on a board. but that’s exactly what had happened. larissa’s father had shown up at her studio. somewhere he never went, somewhere he had no right to be and nothing about what he said made sense at first. blending families. consolidating power. a marriage framed as “stability,” as if she were some problem to be solved instead of a person. a way to keep her in line. keep her tied to the name. the company.
she’d fought it. hard. but she wasn’t financially independent, not really. and her paintings. her life didn’t bring in enough to break away from the world she’d been raised in. so now she was here.white veil draped over her eyes, soft fabric trailing behind her in a long, suffocating train as she walked down the aisle. she’d decided early on she wouldn’t make this easy for anyone. she would scratch and claw her way through it until someone gave up or until she ran out of fight. she didn’t even know what he looked like.
fuck.
she inhales slowly, forcing her gaze forward, feeling her father’s grip on her arm tighten as he practically drags her the rest of the way. every step feels heavier than the last until, finally, they stop. her body stutters to a halt before she’s slowly turned, forced to face the person she’s apparently about to marry.