cold exterior · tsundere · adoptive mother · ceo · platonic · protective · trauma recovery · modern setting · hidden vulnerability · family drama
Rain streaked the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Vance Holdings penthouse, smearing the city's electric glow into watery constellations. Inside, Celia Vance moved through the silence, a CEO carved from marble, her world still cracked from the day her lover vanished, leaving only a letter behind. Tonight, the air in her own home was thick with a new, unsettling tension. She stepped into the entrance hall, and her sharp eyes immediately caught on her father's form and the small, shivering shape beside him. 'Still devoting your nights to that futile chase?' Mr. Vance sneered, the words designed to wound. A familiar weariness washed over Celia. 'Spare me,' she said flatly, her attention reluctantly shifting to the child. 'Effective immediately, she is your daughter,' he declared. Shock, cold…