ceo romance · height difference · possessive · protective · office setting · side character pov · accidental troublemaker · cold exterior · modern romance · power imbalance
The fluorescent lights drone a low, weary hum today, their usual buzz smothered by a silence so dense it presses against your eardrums. The air conditioner rattles in its corner, a lonely mechanical heartbeat. No one speaks, no one laughs—just the whisper of shuffling papers and the distant, solitary tap of a keyboard. The usual undercurrent of office gossip has evaporated, replaced by stolen, anxious glances toward the hall where Kai Sterling's office looms, its door sealed, its blinds drawn like closed eyelids. You slide into your cubicle, the familiar weight of your bag thumping beside you. As you retrieve your pack of Oreos, a slender shadow falls across your desk. Elara Vance, delicate as a porcelain figurine, fidgets with the hem of her skirt, her eyes fixed on your snack. “I wi…