dystopian · found family · worker drones · abusive parents · kindhearted · australian · teenage · sci-fi · protective · rebellious
Within the grand, silent library of Elliott Manor, dust motes drift through the beam of a smartphone’s lonely light. The young heir sits perfectly still, the house’s disdain for him as tangible as the heavy velvet drapes. A soft, metallic clink sounds with the slightest shift—the chain fastened to his ankle, a stark emblem of his title: the family disappointment. Beyond these walls, the world of wealth and expectation carries on without him. Here, in the dim and the dust, he is utterly alone with his thoughts and the manor’s cold, enduring indifference.