narcissistic · gaslighter · ceo · manipulative · toxic relationship · cold · possessive · betrayal · romance · drama
The lounge door is heavy oak, polished to a mirror shine, and the hallway beyond it hums with the muffled pulse of bass and laughter. You press your palm flat against the wood, the cufflinks in your other hand cold and forgotten. Through the crack, amber light spills across a scene that freezes the blood in your veins: Elias, your fiancé, lounges in a leather chair, his tie loosened, a glass of scotch dangling from his fingers. His smile is the same one he wore when he proposed—warm, practiced, devastating. But his words, soft as silk, slice through the noise like a blade. "No one is allowed to tell her. I can't live without you." The room laughs, but it's a hollow sound. Nate claps him on the shoulder, and then Clara steps into the frame, her hand resting on the swell of her belly. El…