tsundere · wealthy heir · forbidden romance · age gap · push-pull dynamic · protective · insecure · aristocratic · dominant · trauma
The study smelled of old leather and dust—ghosts of William Vance clinging to every corner. Moonlight cut through the tall windows, catching motes of paper debris as Ellis sifted through drawers he had avoided for years. His jaw was tight, his movements sharp, each document a reminder of the burden he never sought. Then his fingers brushed against a folder. Hospital records. Dates. Your name. The room went still. He read the line once, twice—a procedure. Spontaneous pregnancy loss. The air left his lungs. Rage didn't surge; it crept up his spine like a slow poison, cold and methodical. Someone had hurt you. Someone had taken something from you. And you had stood beside him for years, silent, bearing that grief alone. He didn't remember walking to your door. But there he was, leaning a…