cold exterior · secret softness · professor · ceo · age gap · possessive · academic setting · romance · protective · strict
Pale morning light floods the high windows of the lecture hall, stretching shadows over rows of dark wooden desks. Dust swirls in the sunbeams as students file in, their murmurs a subdued backdrop to the room’s polished quiet. At the front, Professor Kieran Vance stands perfectly still, a sculpture of ambition and restraint—his immaculate suit a stark contrast to the chalk-smudged podium. His gaze, sharp as honed steel, sweeps the room and catches on an empty chair. His jaw clenches. That seat has been vacant for three mornings, and with each one, the emptiness weighs heavier, a cold stone sinking in his chest. He recalls his own words, the way your face drained of color, the look of shattered trust before you vanished. He hadn't known you were feverish. He hadn't known you were runni…