Between Desire and Ruin
Ethan Mathews has just landed the opportunity of a lifetime: assisting the world renowned architect Dante Hart on a city defining project. But what begins as professional admiration soon becomes something far more dangerous. Late nights filled with whispered critiques, shared sketches, and stolen glances spark an undeniable attraction but the world is ready to judge.
Colleagues whisper that Ethan is exploiting Dante, while Dante’s past heartbreak makes him wary of love. When a former partner resurfaces, determined to ruin Dante’s career, Ethan is forced to question whether their passion is worth the risk. A rival firm offers Ethan a tempting position, pushing him to choose between ambition and the man who has become his anchor.
As rumors spiral and city officials threaten to remove Dante from the project, the two must navigate jealousy, sabotage, and the ever present scrutiny of a world that refuses to understand their love.
Can they prove that their bond is built on trust, talent, and true desire, not just convenience and scandal? Or will ambition, fear, and envy tear them apart before their hearts and their masterpiece are complete?
Baca
Chapter: Chapter 4 The conference room was too quiet.That was Ethan’s first thought as he followed Dante inside, heart hammering against his ribs like it was trying to escape. The walls were pristine white, broken only by a sprawling window that overlooked the city and a sleek table of pale oak that somehow made Ethan feel both small and exposed.Dante stood at the head of the table, sleeves rolled up, presence coiled with a controlled intensity that made the air feel tighter. Marcus and Mira entered last, each carrying tablets, their eyes deliberately neutral as if they were preparing to witness something they knew Ethan wasn’t ready for.Ethan’s sketch a concept Dante had assigned him earlier that morning rested on the display board. Too raw. Too fresh. Too vulnerable.Dante gestured toward it with a lazy, cutting motion of his fingers.Let’s begin.Those words hit Ethan like a pressure drop.He swallowed. This is a preliminary concept for the riverside pavilion using curved lines to mimic the natura
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-24
Chapter: Chapter 3 Monday morning arrived far too quickly.Ethan stood outside Hart Studio at 7:52 a.m., eight minutes earlier than he had dared to arrive. Dante’s warning If you’re early, you’ll wait outside. If you’re late, don’t come at all echoed in his skull like a command carved in granite.He wiped his damp palms on his trousers, trying to slow his breathing. The glass façade reflected a ghostlike version of him, wide eyed, tense, not at all like someone who belonged in a world of prodigies and perfection.But he was here.Because Dante Hart had said start Monday.And because something about the man had turned Ethan’s pulse into a frantic metronome.At exactly 8:00 a.m., the doors unlocked with a soft click.Ethan stepped inside.The studio buzzed differently today.People moved with precision designers carrying rolled blueprints, assistants typing rapidly at sleek workstations, model builders hunched over miniature structures under halo lights. Everything was clean, intentional, and brimming wit
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-24
Chapter: Chapter 2The elevator doors slid open with a whisper, releasing Ethan into the cool, echoing atrium of Hart Studio. Glass. Steel. Silence sharpened into purpose. Everything about the place felt intentional: clean lines, open air, light poured in through impossible angles as if Dante Hart had shaped the sun itself.Ethan’s breath caught.This wasn’t an office. It was a cathedral built from precision and imagination.His footsteps sounded too loud as he moved across the polished concrete floor, a portfolio clutched against his chest like a shield. His shirt stuck slightly to his back nerves, not heat. He had arrived thirteen minutes early, but it did nothing to calm the riot in his pulse.He approached the reception desk, where a woman with silver framed glasses looked up from her tablet.Ethan Matthews? she asked, as though she already knew him.Yes, he managed.She studied him for one long, unreadable moment. Then, with a small nod, she stood.He’s waiting for you.Those few words struck him h
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-24
Chapter: Chapter 1The world shifted with a single vibration.Ethan’s phone buzzed against the scarred wooden table of his tiny apartment, the sound slicing through the quiet morning like a fault line opening beneath his feet. He didn’t rush to look, he never did. Emails, messages, notifications, they usually brought invoices, client edits, polite rejections from design firms that said promising portfolio, but not a fit at this time.But today, something in the air felt different. Sharp. As if the universe was holding its breath.He took a sip of his lukewarm coffee, stretched the stiffness from his spine, and finally swiped the screen.The sender froze his pulse.Dante Hart Studio RecruitmentFor a moment, Ethan forgot how to breathe.Dante Hart!? Architectural visionary. Design prodigy. A man whose work Ethan had studied with the kind of reverent obsession usually reserved for religion or romance. Dante’s buildings were symphonies clean arcs, unexpected shadows, a fusion of elegance and rebellion. He
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-24
Masuk
