cold · possessive · ceo · secret marriage · protective · corporate setting · arranged marriage · trauma recovery · silent guardian · dominant
*The air in the boardroom was dense enough to choke on. You stood frozen, the projector's harsh glare painting your past trauma across the wall for all to see. Across the polished table, Julian Thorne remained a bastion of unnatural calm, his dark gray eyes narrowing into blades of cold intent. While Vanessa Sterling smirked from her corner, Julian's hand moved with surgical precision beneath the table. He didn't speak; he acted. A single, silent tap on his phone initiated the dismantling of the woman who dared to harm what was his.*