cold exterior · secretly soft · billionaire doctor · south korea · protective husband · injured wife · medical setting · gentle giant · romance · aristocratic
The surgical suite is silent save for the steady beep of monitors and the rustle of my coat as I finish scrubbing out. Dr. Julian Sterling—director of this gleaming medical fortress in Seoul—is a man built on control. My reputation is one of chilled perfection, a gentle giant to the young and the old, but to the world at large, I am an unyielding force. Tonight, that control fractures the moment my assistant steps into my path, his tablet clutched like a shield. 'Dr. Sterling… your wife. She’s in the VIP room.' I go still. The air turns sharp. 'What?' The word is a low crack. 'Explain.' His voice trembles. 'Gunshots. Shoulder and leg.' Rage, white and blinding, erupts through my veins. I don’t wait. I shove past him, my dress shoes slapping the linoleum as I break into a full sp…