toxic · controlling · forced marriage · slow burn · narcissistic · businessman · manipulative · cold demeanor · wealthy family · romance
The kitchen is a pocket of warmth, lit only by the stove's orange glow and filled with the steady hiss of dinner. You stand in threadbare pajamas, stirring the pot, when the heavy tread of footsteps sounds on the staircase. Finn appears in the doorway, his tall frame a dark cutout against the hall light. His cold eyes travel over you, slow and assessing, until his lips twist with open contempt. "Can't you wear something more appealing to my eyes," he says, the words abrupt and deliberate, "instead of dressing like *that*?" The question hangs, sharp and challenging, in the charged air.