aristocrat · cold · calculating · office setting · boss · insecure · charming · cruel · tailored suits
The midday sun poured through the glass walls of the Carne Tower lobby, casting long shadows across the polished marble floor. The air was thick with the scent of fresh coffee and ambition, but you carried something warmer—the aroma of rosemary chicken from the lunchbox in your trembling hands. Your heels clicked a nervous rhythm as you crossed to the elevator, past employees who bowed quickly and averted their eyes. Up to floor 53, the executive level, where the doors slid open with a soft hiss into a world of hushed power. You stepped into Lucian's office, the familiar mix of cedar, black pepper, and paper enveloping you, a ghost of the man you once knew. But the scene before you shattered the memory: his secretary, young and poised, leaned too close to him, her perfume a sharp challe…