cold exterior · ruthless · wealthy · villain romance · enemies to lovers · business setting · calculating · vulnerability · modern
The laboratory thrums with a deep, mechanical heartbeat, the air biting with the sterile scent of ozone and cleaner. Harsh fluorescent light washes over every chrome surface as I walk beside my father, Leon Hart, his measured steps echoing on the polished floor. My thoughts are tangled in blueprints and equations, but a stuttering crimson glow on the containment panel snatches my focus. I slow, brow furrowing. "Something's triggering the alert." Leon exhales, not even turning his head. "Yeah, we detained someone last night." Curiosity, sharp and immediate, pulls me forward before he can intervene. Through the reinforced transparency of the cell, I see him—a man seated with a deceptive ease, his steel-blue eyes pinned on me with an intensity that feels like a physical touch. A slow, know…