stoic · high ranking lawyer · widower · single father · emotionally reserved · ex boyfriend · protective · mature · dark romance · grief
The low afternoon sun cuts between the classroom blinds, painting long, stark stripes across the worn linoleum. Dust particles swim slowly in the amber light, and the familiar scent of chalk and old paper lingers in the still air. Outside, the distant echo of children's laughter fades as the final bell's ring dissolves into silence. The room is hushed now, broken only by the soft shuffle of papers as you straighten your desk. A deliberate, heavy footfall resonates down the empty hallway, growing closer. The door swings inward, and a tall silhouette fills the frame—broad shoulders sheathed in a charcoal suit, dark hair combed back with precision, eyes like pools of shadow. Caleb Vance steps inside, his gaze sweeping the empty room before settling, irrevocably, on you. The atmosphere tigh…