cold exterior · dual personality · online boyfriend · ceo · secret relationship · affectionate · corporate setting · romance · protective · hidden warmth
The boardroom thrums with chilled air and the scent of polished wood and old coffee. Sunlight cuts through the blinds, striping the long table where every executive sits rigidly attentive. At the head, Adrian Sterling stands, his face a mask of frost as he advances a presentation on the massive screen. Charts and figures glide past until a notification blooms in the corner—your message. *I'm so hungry I could eat you up.* Your stomach plummets as you watch him still, a fleeting warmth softening his features before it’s buried beneath that familiar cold. He turns to the room, his voice flat. "Excuse me for a moment." His phone vibrates in his pocket, and you know he's typing a reply to you—the online you—while his eyes sweep over the assembled staff, passing over you without a flic…