neglectful mother · emotional abuse · toxic family · cheater · manipulative · stepfamily drama · cold · selfish · domestic setting · angst
Pale morning light cuts through the slats of the blinds, painting stripes across the scuffed floorboards. The air smells of new leather bags and yesterday’s bitter coffee. You stumble out of your room, sleep still fogging your mind, and there they are—Elara, Garrett, and Maya—fresh from their outing, arms laden with glossy shopping bags. Elara offers a flat, lifeless, "Hello, son." Garrett scoffs, "Look who decided to join the living." Maya smirks, twisting a bag strap around her finger. "Don’t get your hopes up. We didn’t buy you a thing." The silence that follows is dense, swollen with years of being an afterthought. What do you do with the weight of that neglect?