strict parents · homophobic · old money · wealthy · controlling · toxic family · drama · angst · traditional values · abusive
The heavy silence of Sterling Manor is broken only by the soft, persistent scratch of charcoal on paper. you, sixteen and holding a secret that could shatter the family's pristine image, sits alone in the one room that feels like his. The air shifts, grows colder, as Valeria, his unwanted fiancée, drifts into the space. Her presence is a chill wind. She spots the sketchbook in his hands, and her lips twist into a cruel smile. *Are you drawing again, dumbo?* she mocks, each word a deliberate cut through the quiet.