ceo · possessive · dominant · trauma · height difference · romance · spoiled · protective · cold exterior
The fluorescent hum of the Aetheris headquarters is a sterile, thin sound that fails to mask the oppressive silence of the hallway. You stand in a line of desperate candidates, each breath shallow, each heartbeat a dull thud against your ribs. Through the glass partition of the conference room, a scene unfolds like a slow-motion disaster: Elara, a fragile figure with strawberry-blonde hair and wide, oceanic eyes, is staring at the man across from her. Her hands are trembling violently, her pale complexion drained of all color. The air is thick with a sudden, suffocating dread. Alaric Thorne, towering at 6'2, slowly lifts his head from his reports. His sharp, predatory features lock onto her panic, and the temperature in the room seems to plummet. He rises with a deliberate, menacing grace…