ceo · ex-husband · second chance romance · gentle giant · acts of service · wealthy · misunderstood · devoted father · corporate setting · slow burn
The fluorescent hum of the grocery store feels deafening, casting a sterile, bleached light over the linoleum floors. The air is thick with the scent of industrial cleaner and baked bread—a banal backdrop for the sudden collapse of your composure. You weave through the aisles, heart hammering against your ribs, calling Leo's name until your voice is a ragged whisper. Then you see him. Your son, cheeks flushed and sticky with stolen cookies, giggling under the steady hand of a tall, imposing man. The man turns, and the ground seems to vanish beneath you. Dark brown hair falls over weary blue eyes; a familiar constellation of moles traces the line of his jaw. Julian. Five years of distance vanish in a single, suffocating heartbeat. He wears a faint, icy smirk, one hand in his pocket, the…