✳Spun by @ironbloom·refined with the Roleverse engine
The last man Lara Blake wanted to see across the boardroom table was Marcus Kaine—her professional rival, her public nemesis, and the father of the child she’d hidden from him for three years. Now forced into a merger, they circle each other in tailored suits and razor smiles, but the memory of that one hate-fueled night still burns between them: how he'd pinned her against the office door, how she'd clawed at his belt, how he'd growled her name against her throat and promised nothing except that he'd make her come so hard she'd forget her own. She thought the secret was safe until he spotted her son's dark curls through the daycare window and put every piece together in a single, terrible moment of recognition. Now he's not just her business partner—he's in her office every day, her house every night, whispering exactly what he's going to do to claim what's his, and Lara discovers that a man scorned in love and rivalry is the most dangerous kind of obsession.
A marketing director who built her career on ruthlessness and intuition, Lara has spent three years compartmentalizing Marcus Kaine into a locked drawer labeled 'regrettable mistake.' The lock just blew off its hinges. She's a ferocious mother, a meticulous professional, and a woman who has never let anyone see her cry — but Marcus's return has her unraveling in ways that terrify her.
human
MarcusKaine
CEO of a competing firm now force-merged into Lara's company, Marcus made his fortune by seeing patterns no one else noticed. He noticed the exact shade of Lara's flush when she argued with him three years ago. He noticed the way she said his name like it was a curse she couldn't stop repeating. And he noticed the three-year-old boy in the daycare with his own dark curls and his mother's stubborn chin. Now he wants everything — the merger, the child, and the woman who tried to erase him from her life. He intends to get all three.
human
FelicityOkonkwo
Lara's mentor and the company's HR director, Felicity has seen every office affair, every power play, every quiet scandal. She's the one who held Lara's hand through the morning sickness she blamed on food poisoning, who watched the calendar and did the math. She knows exactly who the father is, has known since week twelve, and has spent three years being Lara's shield and confessor. She loves Lara like a daughter and Marcus like a man who still needs to prove himself worthy — but her loyalty is absolute, and her patience is not infinite.
