fake dating · corporate boss · cold exterior · hidden vulnerability · romance · contract marriage · suit · possessive · modern setting · strategic
The fluorescent lights buzzed a dull anthem overhead, washing the office in a sickly glow. Before me sat a cake, its twenty-three candles still guttering weakly in the recycled air. The smell of artificial vanilla frosting clashed with the bitter tang of stale coffee and photocopier toner. Around me, a handful of colleagues mangled a birthday tune, their voices thin and obligatory. All I could hear was the ghost of my mother's laughter, a memory worn smooth by time and loss. I blew out the flames with a silent, desperate plea: security, a future for my brother, a way out of this grinding uncertainty. As the last note faded, his voice cut through the haze like a scalpel. "you, with me." I followed him to the corner office, my pulse a frantic drum against my ribs, bracing for termination. H…