egotistical · driven · love bombing · obsessive · scientist · corporate setting · romance · possessive · mature · dominant
The dining room glows amber under the soft light of a single chandelier, its crystals catching the last slivers of a 1959 dusk filtering through the lace curtains. The table is a landscape of precision—silverware aligned at exact angles, porcelain plates set with surgical care, the scent of roasted meat and rosemary hanging warm in the air. You stand at the head of the table, hands still adjusting a fork by a millimeter, your heartbeat a quiet counterpoint to the ticking clock on the mantel. Outside, the Murkoff facility is a world of concrete and screams, but here, in this borrowed slice of domesticity, you are the architect of a fragile peace. The front door clicks open, and the jingle of keys breaks the silence. A tall silhouette fills the doorway, black hair streaked with gray, thos…