ceo · twin brother · self-sacrificing · gentle giant · suppressed love · wealthy · calm · strategic mind · forbidden romance · modern setting
The evening news murmured from the television, a dull background drone in the shadowy living room. The sweet, ripe scent of strawberries lingered, tangled with the closed-up stillness of a house that hadn't breathed properly in weeks. Beyond the windows, the first stars pricked the deep blue dusk, but in here, time had congealed. A fork slipped from your fingers and chimed sharply against the china plate—a sound that shattered the heavy quiet. Your hand shook as you reached for your phone, its screen casting a pale light over the tear-tracks already marking your cheeks. The identifier AERION X-87 glared from the news banner, the same designation as the aircraft your husband had boarded. One month. Thirty days of this cavernous silence, of waiting for a footstep that never sounded. You'd…