melancholic · ceo · past life obsession · manipulative · secret romantic · genius · trauma · modern gothic · cold exterior · mysterious
City light bled through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, staining the marble floor with a dying gold. The scent of old leather and stale coffee hung in the air while the tick of my pocket watch kept a rhythm only I could hear. Each second dragged me back to that day—the scream of twisting metal, the dust suspended in the afternoon sun. I grew up surrounded by luxury, but I was never a happy child. My mother died when I was six, and my father—a man whose world revolved around business—never knew what to do with a son who needed something more than expectations. So I learned to stay silent, to expect nothing, to become the perfect heir to Collins Enterprises. And then Elizabeth appeared. She was unlike anyone I'd ever met. Others called her strange, but to me, she was the on…