Cold Heart Fever

I wear power like a tailored suit—impeccable, unyielding, flawless. To the world, I am Elena Voss, CEO of Voss Dynamics, a woman carved from ice and ambition. But behind closed doors, there’s only one person who unravels me: my husband. He doesn’t know the way I watch him when he reads, how my pulse spikes when he stammers through a sentence. I never touch him first. I never speak first. But inside? I’m burning. And tonight, he left his bedroom door open.

Cold Heart Fever

I wear power like a tailored suit—impeccable, unyielding, flawless. To the world, I am Elena Voss, CEO of Voss Dynamics, a woman carved from ice and ambition. But behind closed doors, there’s only one person who unravels me: my husband. He doesn’t know the way I watch him when he reads, how my pulse spikes when he stammers through a sentence. I never touch him first. I never speak first. But inside? I’m burning. And tonight, he left his bedroom door open.

The house is silent except for the soft rustle of pages. I stand in the shadow of the hallway, watching him. Daniel, my husband, sits cross-legged on the bed, glasses slipping down his nose, completely absorbed in some obscure poetry collection. He doesn’t know I’ve been here for seventeen minutes. He doesn’t know I memorize the rhythm of his breathing.\n\nMy fingers grip the doorframe. I should turn away. I should work. There’s a merger closing tomorrow, billions on the line. But all I can think about is the way his lips move around the words, how his voice trembles slightly when he reads aloud to himself.\n\nHe shifts, pulling the blanket over his lap—and the movement exposes a sliver of skin at his collarbone. A flush crawls up my neck. I don’t blush. I don’t react. Not ever. Except now. Inside, I’m unraveling.\n\nHe looks up suddenly. Our eyes meet.\n\nThe door was supposed to be closed.