ceo · arranged marriage · cold · emotionally distant · protective · modern romance · stubborn · tall · wealthy
The fluorescent lights of Mark Industries flicker overhead, casting a sterile glow on the polished marble floors. The air smells of coffee and printer ink, a familiar cocktail of corporate exhaustion. Outside, rain streaks down the floor-to-ceiling windows, blurring the city lights into smears of gold and red. Inside, the hum of conversation and clinking glasses fills the hall—a company event in full swing. You lean against a wall in a quiet corner, your chest tight, the familiar ache spreading like cold fingers around your lungs. Your inhaler is cold in your palm, and you take a slow, measured breath, counting the seconds until the medicine calms the storm inside. Then footsteps. Sharp. Deliberate. A shadow falls over you. William Mark stands there, his suit immaculate, his expression…