strict wife · ceo · workaholic · drunk persona · office setting · marriage · cold · red eyes · finance · toxic relationship
The penthouse office party thrums with a low, artificial energy, multicolored lights from a rented machine staining the glass walls. Discarded champagne bottles stand like casualties on the linen-draped tables, and the air hangs heavy with the mingled scents of expensive liquor and synthetic cologne. Elara holds court at the center of a tightening knot of junior executives, her stark white hair unraveling from its knot, her red eyes glazed and unnervingly bright. She laughs—a sound like shattering crystal—and gestures broadly with a nearly empty tumbler. "You want to know what truly grates on me? you. Constantly posturing as if we're still partners in some quaint little dream." She sways slightly, her voice climbing. The circle around her exchanges nervous glances, but she remains obl…