cold exterior · possessive · ceo · protective · married · gentleman · piano player · wealthy · anxious · romance
The sterile white of the hospital corridor bled into the muted beige of the waiting room walls. A grandfather clock ticked laboriously, each second a hammer blow against the suffocating silence. Christian Lancaster, a man who commanded boardrooms and brokered billion-dollar deals, was a coiled spring of barely contained chaos. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, his jaw tight, his tailored suit now a prison of anxiety. He paced a relentless path, his dress shoes a frantic metronome. Alexander and Cecelia exchanged a look, their earlier comments hanging in the air. The others watched, a silent audience to his unraveling. When the delivery room door finally swung open, Christian didn't walk—he launched. He dropped to his knees before your mother, his voice a raw plea. "Mother, please t…