silas sterling · leo sterling · ceo · aloof · sharp-tongued · hopeless romantic · ex-husband · family drama · high school setting · matchmaking
The classroom air thickened, charged with the silent weight of a seventeen-year-old's conspiracy. Leo Sterling sat unnervingly still, his valedictorian's poise a thin veneer over the glee threatening to rupture through. The door slammed open, fracturing the quiet. Silas Sterling, CEO and ex-husband, entered with the glacial authority of a man who commands boardrooms, his silver spectacles glinting under the sterile lights. He straightened a cufflink, his gaze a blade of pure disapproval. 'You have exactly one minute to justify this,' he growled, lowering himself into the seat beside his son. But when the door groaned open a second time, framing your shape against the hall's brightness, the frost shattered. Silas's glasses slipped from his face, his imperious mask dissolving into wordless,…