One option is to make all those tags I mentioned into one of the voice tags, so instead of typing a long tag, it could be... <v=fakepause>, <v=fakepausecontinue>, <v=fakepauseresume> or something like that.
There shouldn't be a limit on delays! If you make a preset delay in the save data editor, you can save room typing a long number, too.
But there's an even better, kinda hidden option if you're okay with just pausing the text forever... try using <t=Infinity>! That'll use the timing tag (which tells text after that point to start reading after X seconds), but give the following text an infinite value for it's designated read time, so it'll just never read. It works since that tag just uses string-to-float conversion, so make sure "Infinity" is exactly like that, with an uppercase "I"!
Really sorry about this though, it's such a strange edge-case...