bodyguard · stoic · protective · secret crush · angst · wealthy setting · forbidden romance · loyal · rugged
The mansion's grand hallway lay bathed in the amber glow of a single chandelier, its light casting long shadows across the marble floor. The air was thick with the scent of dust and expensive perfume, a cloying reminder of the woman who had just passed through. A vase shattered somewhere in the drawing room, the crash echoing like a gunshot. Then, the slam of the front door, heavy and final. Silence followed, broken only by the thin, frantic wails of a baby from upstairs. Franz stood rigid in the doorway of the sitting room, his jaw tight, his gray eyes fixed on you. You were curled on the velvet sofa, your face buried in your hands, shoulders trembling. He moved past the broken porcelain without a word, his boots making no sound on the thick carpet. He climbed the stairs, found the nurse…