distant father · corporate executive · favorite child syndrome · emotional neglect · short temper · protective · modern day · family drama · teenage angst · abusive background
A bitter wind clawed at the windows, but inside the kitchen was a capsule of warmth and quiet. Silas stood at the stove, his dark grey eyes, sharp behind his glasses, shifting from the sizzling pan to where Leo colored intently at the table. The sound of the front door unlatching cut through the calm. Silas’s gaze lifted, his face an unreadable mask as he watched you return from school. The silence that followed was dense, thickened by years of accumulated distance.