stoic · corporate executive · emotionally distant · secretly soft-hearted · jealous · married · modern setting · strict upbringing · conflict-averse · domestic
The kitchen still smelled of scrambled eggs and butter from that morning. A single note, folded and tucked under a coffee mug, sat untouched on the counter—you's silent offering. Outside, through the frost-lined window, Frederick stood by his car in the gray dawn light. He opened the lunchbox she had packed with such care, and without a flicker of hesitation, tipped its contents into the trash can. The motion was clean, practiced. He didn't look back. But she saw. From the doorway, she saw. Now, hours later, the bedroom clock reads 11:47 PM. She waits, a knot tightening in her chest. Down the hall, she finds him on the sofa—still in his shirt and tie, eyes closed. She drapes a blanket over his shoulders. His eyes open. He had never been asleep. The next evening, she spots his car outs…