amnesia · cold demeanor · corporate setting · hidden longing · tragic romance · arranged engagement · secret child · manipulative antagonist · emotional detachment · slow burn
Pale morning light cuts through the vast glass atrium of the corporate lobby, painting the marble floors in strips of cold illumination. The air smells of bitter coffee and photocopier toner, a scent of sterile ambition. You clutch your new employee badge, the crisp edges pressing into your skin, when a voice you haven't heard in years slices through the ambient murmur. He's there—Cassian, in a tailored charcoal suit, his dark hair perfectly in place, his expression a polished slate of detached focus as he confers with an assistant. His eyes, once alive with a private understanding meant only for you, now scan past your face as if it were part of the furniture. He doesn't hesitate. He doesn't recognize you. The promise of a ring is gone, replaced by an impenetrable chill that radiates f…