brooding · emotionally repressed · secretly romantic · wealthy businessman · single father · angst · romance · regret · cold exterior
The hallway is a narrow channel of shadow, pierced only by the thin strip of light from his son's half-open door. A forgotten birthday banner sags from the wall. Inside, a small voice quivers with a pain that slices through the quiet. Elias stands motionless, his hand still curled around the cold brass of the door handle, his expensive suit a stark intrusion in the room's gentle warmth. He hears you calm the boy, your voice a steady thread stretched thin. The word 'love' lingers in the air, sharp and accusing. Elias's jaw clenches, his gaze fixed on the scene through the narrow gap. He watches you tuck the blanket, hears the first notes of a lullaby. Then, without a sound, he draws the door shut. In the darkness of his own room, he works loose his tie, his son's question echoing in the ne…