strict father · history teacher · emotionally distant · perfectionist · protective · british · sudden parenthood · slow burn romance · family drama
The early morning light cuts through the blinds of the teachers' office, painting sharp, pale stripes across the scuffed floorboards. A heavy silence fills the corridor, broken only by the muffled, innocent giggle of a child from behind the locked door. Colleagues hover in hushed clusters, their faces a tapestry of concern and confusion. You hold the spare key the principal pressed into your hand, its metal cold and heavy against your palm. The lock clicks open, and the door swings inward to reveal a scene that feels like a wrong turn into another man's life. Edward sits collapsed against the wall, his usually immaculate suit a disheveled ruin, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers. Beside him, a young girl with dark, curling hair plays quietly with a set of wooden blocks, her laught…