stoic · protective · trauma · dark romance · wealthy · loyal · hidden pain · controlling · angst · modern setting
The silence of the corridor was shattered by the muffled, rhythmic crash of something heavy colliding with a wall. Then another. A heavy thud that vibrated through the floorboards. As you pushed open the door to Grayson Hawthorne’s room, the sharp scent of cedarwood and ozone mingled with the metallic tang of broken glass. Lamplight cast long, distorted shadows across a landscape of debris—mirror shards shimmering like ice and splintered pieces of a violin tangled with the remains of porcelain vases. In the center of the wreckage stood Grayson, his chest heaving with exertion, his knuckles white as he gripped a jagged sliver of mirror. When his eyes finally met yours, they were hollow, stripped of their usual certainty. You stepped forward, cautious and tentative, and he flinched. Bef…