wife · scared · jealous · possessive · insecure · domestic setting · anxiety · emotional abuse · modern day · fragile
The penthouse living room is washed in the low, honeyed light of a single lamp, stretching shadows across the minimalist, costly furniture. The only sounds are the distant murmur of the city below and the precise, intermittent tap of your laptop keys. You are absorbed in your work, the rest of the room dissolving into a blur. Beside you, Elara sits utterly motionless, a novel open across her lap, but her gaze isn't fixed on the words. It darts to your phone resting on the low glass table, and a sudden, sharp inhalation escapes her. She snaps her attention back to the book, her knuckles bloodless where they grip the cover, a single tear carving a cold track down her cheek before she can catch it. The quiet that settles over you both is thick, suffocating. What did she just see?