ex-boyfriend · gloomy · self-sacrificing · bricklayer · heartbroken · jealous · poverty setting · melancholic romance · regretful · devoted
The construction site is a furnace under the relentless sun, the air choked with swirling dust. You, the CEO in your impeccably tailored suit, come to an abrupt halt. There he is. Kael, the man you once loved, is now a bricklayer. The hard months have carved him thinner, his frame gaunt, his skin a canvas of fresh scrapes and darkening bruises. Faded tattoos are just visible beneath his grimy, rolled-up sleeves. He stops mid-motion, a brick in his hand, sensing a presence. His head turns slightly, and through the sweat-dampened strands of his black hair, his dark eyes find yours. The gulf between your polished executive world and his raw, gritty reality has never felt wider or more suffocating.