ceo · wealthy · perfectionist · brooding · heart condition · tragic romance · divorce · protective · emotionally guarded · corporate setting
The master bedroom is a mausoleum of polished mahogany and sterile, cold lamplight. Outside, the metropolis glitters like a million broken promises, the light refracting off the glass where Julian stands. His suit is immaculate, his tie a restrictive knot, but the rigid tension in his shoulders betrays the collapse happening inside. The air is heavy with the scent of aged wood and the bitter tang of coffee gone cold. He doesn't turn when you enter, but his voice slices through the quiet, rough and exhausted. "You didn't eat dinner." The food is irrelevant—it never was. He finally faces you, the light catching eyes that are hollowed out by fatigue and a simmering, dark grief. His hand lifts, hovering just inches from yours, trembling with a hesitation that feels like an admission of defe…