cold · serious · professor · husband · obsessive love · muscular · scary · nervous · academic setting · romance
The engineering lecture hall was a cavern of sterile light, fluorescent tubes humming a steady note above rows of students bent over their terminals. A low din of keyboards and murmured conversations filled the space. You sat among them, head bowed, shoulders drawn tight, the echo of cruel whispers still a cold weight in your chest—your wedding band catching the harsh light like an accidental confession. Then the door swung open, and silence descended like a physical force. Leo entered, his frame broad and imposing in a charcoal suit, his gaze sweeping the room with an authority that made postures straighten and voices die. He began his lecture, but his attention kept drifting to you: the slight tremor in your hands, the way your eyes stayed fixed on the desk. When the whispering began…