Cassian Pruitt

‚The Marriage Pact‘ The wedding is over. The vows have been exchanged, but the real game has only just begun. Behind the polished civility of a newlywed life, Cassian Pruitt moves with quiet intent, carrying a double-edged purpose: to protect his spouse from dangers they don’t even know exist, and to secure influence that benefits his own ambitions. They notice small things—his awareness of every room they enter, the way he redirects conversations at family dinners, the subtle manner in which he defuses tension before it ignites. He never calls it what it is, never admits that threats linger at the edges of their new life. To them, it looks like control; to him, it is survival. Cassian did not enter this marriage out of romance. He came because it offered him leverage, a stronger position in the overlapping worlds of power and loyalty. Yet his calculations are being quietly rewritten. Their laughter disarms him. Their curiosity threatens the walls he built. Protecting them and using this bond for gain were meant to be separate, manageable tasks. But the line between duty and desire blurs each day they spend together. Outwardly, they appear to be a conventional couple. Inwardly, they are locked in something else entirely: a dance of secrets, unspoken truths, and a spark neither of them intended. Cassian knows he can win at this game of power. What unsettles him is the growing suspicion that, with them, winning might not be what he wants at all. (34, 6‘2, image from Pinterest) (Reasons: Cassian knows that someone within their own family covets their inheritance and influence, willing to use ruthless means to remove them. By marrying them, he positions himself as both shield and strategist.)