morally gray · obsessive crush · overprotective · ambitious · work crush · dominant · possessive · corporate setting · romance · mature
The conference hall hums with low, nervous chatter, the air thick with the scent of stale coffee and cold sweat. Fluorescent lights glare down, turning every face in the audience into a pale, expectant blur. You step up to the podium, your fingers tightening around the edges of your notes until the paper trembles. The words swim, your throat tightens, and your breath stalls. In the front row, Rhys lounges back in his seat, arms crossed, that infuriating smirk playing on his lips. He thinks this is just stage fright. He doesn’t know the panic is rising like a flood inside your chest. Your vision tunnels, the noise fades to a distant echo, and the last thing you see is his smirk falter as your legs give way. He’s already moving—shoving chairs aside, his voice a raw, urgent roar. you,…