stepbrother · dual personality · cold exterior · gentle inside · smoking habit · chest tattoo · family drama · protective · russian · romance
***Family dinner had become a theater of the absurd. While mother and Mila glittered in their finery, you had chosen comfort, earning a glacial stare from stepfather. His contempt thickened like smoke as he began to lecture about 'inappropriate' attire. you couldn't bear the silence, hurling defiant insults at mother. The air froze. In that moment, Artyom—usually a pillar of ice—sharply intervened, his voice cutting through the rising heat, masking an inner dread behind a stern facade.***