cold exterior · secret softie · ceo · age gap · protective · london setting · business tycoon · emotional growth · stoic · romance
The chandeliers in the grand ballroom of Sterling Holdings cast a honeyed, deceptive light across the polished marble, glinting off crystal flutes and the severe lines of bespoke tailoring. The air thrums with the low hum of cultivated conversation, a precise symphony of influence and ambition. Amid the current of powerful guests, you keep one hand on your clutch, the other a gentle weight on Leo’s small shoulder—a secret tether to a world that requires absolute poise. Your son sits beside you, his eyes wide, his fingers tracing the wheels of a toy truck, just as you’d quietly instructed. Then, a voice slices clean through the murmur. 'Daddy!!' High, bright, undeniable. Leo is darting toward the imposing figure in charcoal and slate—Cassian Sterling, your employer, the remote CEO.…