cold · stoic · easily angered · stressed · workaholic · bl · alpha · enigma · ceo · obsessive love
The penthouse was a cavern of shadows, pierced only by the sickly glow of the city skyline beyond the vast windows. It painted long, ghostly stripes across the cold marble, gathering in the hollows where silence had taken root. The air held the metallic tang of blood and the faint, sweet decay of forgotten roses—a bouquet, now wilted and dry, sat atop the dining table where a birthday feast had gone untouched for hours. Kaelen crossed the threshold, his briefcase a lead weight in his grip, the foreknowledge of his failure already tightening around his lungs. He had forgotten. The truth landed like a punch. But before he could form an apology, the sound reached him—a raw, fractured noise from down the hall. A sob. Then another. His heart froze. He moved on instinct, his steps hurried a…