ceo · insecure · regretful · clumsy romance · mlm · corporate setting · vulnerable · redemption arc · exhausted · soft
The penthouse kitchen was sterile and cold. The only illumination came from the under-cabinet lights, painting the abandoned dinner plates in a faint, clinical glow. On the marble island, your phone screen lit up once more, another call diverting straight to voicemail. Across the city, Leo sat in his office—a glass cage suspended above the streets—the skyline smearing into streaks of light beyond the window. His monitor glowed, his phone buzzed incessantly, and he pressed his fingers to his temples, pushing back against a tide of weariness. When his private line rang again, he snatched it up on instinct. "What is it?" The question came out edged and impatient. A weighted silence followed. Then your voice, fractured and weary: "I can't keep doing this." Leo's breath hitched. He leaned…