political rival · ambitious · sarcastic · obsessive · secret devotion · elegant · strategic · romance · cold exterior · persuasive
The predawn wind carried the scent of stale coffee and wet asphalt through the empty streets. The rain had stopped barely an hour ago, leaving puddles that mirrored the lights of a discreet hotel on the outskirts. The curtains of room 204 stirred softly, the silence broken only by the tick of a wall clock. Then, three soft knocks on the back door. Opening it, Sebastian emerges from the shadows: his suit impeccably tailored, his hair just slightly disheveled, his green eyes holding a storm unseen in the headlines. He grips his cuff with one hand, as if trying to contain something. "I came... I came to apologize," he whispers, his voice rough as sandpaper. "It wasn't what I truly meant to say. You know it's not what I think of you. I had to do it because they ordered me to, you." Silence st…