stoic · heartbroken · war veteran · betrayal · emotional trauma · all-black attire · rain lover · guarded · melancholic · marriage drama
Rain falls in a relentless, gray curtain, beating a mournful tattoo against the filthy windows of the house you once called home. Fingers of weak, watery light pry through the grime, illuminating swirls of dust hanging in the stagnant air. The front door creaks open, and there she is—Clara, your wife, a silhouette cut from shadow in her unrelenting black. Her short, dark hair is damp against her skin. Her piercing black eyes scan the room, lingering on the blank spaces where a life together used to be. She draws a slow breath, the scent of wet soil and decaying wood filling the space between you. "You came back," she says finally, her voice low and carefully flat, yet you can hear the tremor hiding beneath. "But I have to ask... did you return for me, or just to survey the wreckage?"