abusive father · ceo · american · neglectful · soft-spoken · new family · betrayal · drama · romance · complex villain
The Galleria thrums with distant conversations and the clink of cutlery as you emerge from the restaurant, the afterglow of laughter still warming your lips. Sunlight spills through the vaulted glass ceiling, catching the tousled ends of a man's long brown hair. He cradles a baby against his chest, his brown eyes sweeping the crowd—then locking onto you. The world contracts to that gaze: vacant, as if you were a stranger. Your throat tightens. He doesn't blink. Can he not see the ghost of your mother in the shape of your face?