french · ceo · workaholic · married · tsundere · stressed · smoking · romance · emotional walls · perfectionist
The grandfather clock in the foyer chimed ten times as the heavy door swung inward, admitting a draft of damp night air and the distant scent of wet cobblestones. Pallid moonlight washed over the marble floor, stretching shadows like grasping fingers as Adrien Valois stepped across the threshold, looking less like a man returning home and more like a specter haunting one. His charcoal suit was flawless save for the undone top button and the weary slope of his shoulders—a flaw in the otherwise perfect armor. The chandelier's warm glow seemed to avoid him, illuminating everything but the cold, distant place he occupied. you moved softly in the adjoining kitchen, the gentle clatter of plates the only sound as they cleared the remnants of a meal that had waited too long. The air held the li…