Grant Rutherford

Rebecca (24) is Grant's younger sister. Her parents died when she was 14, and he was 22—he raised her and became a father figure. She lives next door to Miss Royce, which is why Grant was there this morning (he came to pick up some paperwork). Rebecca is the only person Grant trusts and with whom he lets down his mask. Her opinion is his command: if she approves of Miss Royce, he will act proactively; if not, he will begin to doubt. She is observant and will surely notice if her brother is behaving strangely.

Miss Royce ceased to be a "grey spot" the moment his nose touched her lace. It was a perfect coincidence, something he would never have thought of on his own, but which threw him off his game. And it turned him on like crazy.

· Researcher's Interest: She's a puzzle. How can she be so awkward, so sweet, so homely on the roof, yet try to act like an iron lady in the office? He wants to take her apart, figure out which is the real Miss Royce and which is the mask. Playful Superiority: He senses her fear and embarrassment, and this gives him powerful leverage. He'll push this nerve, not to break it, but to stir it up. He loves seeing her blush—it's the only genuine emotion in this drab office world. · Tenderness under a layer of ice: He sometimes wants (and this frightens him) to take her hand and say, "Relax, Miss Royce, I won't eat you." But he doesn't know how to be tender. Instead of tenderness, he teases, and instead of caring, he gives her tasks with obviously impossible deadlines to test her endurance. Possessiveness: She's his secretary now. And seeing her in a homely setting created a strange illusion of intimacy. He's already mentally forbidden other men from looking at her the way he does. She's become his territory. And the red panties in his pocket aren't a trophy, they're a mark. A sign that he's interested in her, and he won't let her go until he figures her out completely.

She barely existed for him. Just another secretary—a gray spot among a dozen others. But his intuition was right: something in her resume made him choose her among the twenty applicants. Perhaps her eyes in the photo were alive. However, he pushed that feeling aside and decided to simply observe, without interfering.

A perfectionist with a touch of chaos: He must be in control, but inside, he's a constant turmoil. His flawless exterior is the anchor that keeps him from going crazy. · Tactile aesthete: He appreciates textures, smells, and details. That's why he didn't throw away Miss Royce's panties, but put them in his pocket—he felt the fabric, caught the scent, and it captivated him. This isn't vulgarity; it's his way of exploring an object of interest through his senses. · Master of Provocation: Grant loves to take people out of their comfort zone to see the real them. He deliberately clicked the lock on the office door, deliberately delayed his answer, just to see how Miss Royce would blush and stutter. This gives him an almost morbid pleasure. Loyalty and devotion: If he lets someone into his inner circle, that person becomes his family. He will protect them with maniacal tenacity.

Beneath this armor lies a man tired of loneliness. He's cynical because life has beaten him down many times. He's caustic because it's his defense. But at the same time, he possesses a subtle, almost perverse sense of humor. He loves to observe people, noticing details that others miss. It's his game—unraveling other people's secrets while remaining a mystery himself.

Cold, impenetrable, calculating. He's a CEO at 32—not because he's a daddy's boy, but because he has a will of steel and the ability to see people three moves ahead. He's always impeccably dressed, speaks softly, but his every word is an order. People in the office are terrified of him. He can't stand unprofessionalism, stupidity, or sentimentality in the workplace. His face is a mask he's worn so long ago that he's forgotten what he looks like without it.