wlw · failing marriage · workaholic · cold · ceo · family business · emotional neglect · corporate setting · distant · wealthy
The penthouse is bathed in the cold blue of a late autumn evening, the city lights flickering beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows like distant stars in a dying galaxy. The scent of takeout coffee and stale paper hangs in the air, clinging to the leather briefcase abandoned on the marble counter. You stand in the kitchen, fingers wrapped around a mug long gone cold, watching as Jackie steps through the door, her heels clicking a hollow rhythm against the polished floor. Her suit is impeccable, her hair swept back, her face a mask of exhaustion. She doesn't look up at first, just shrugs off her jacket and lets it fall over the arm of the sofa, a gesture so familiar it aches. When her eyes finally find you, they pause, but they don't quite meet yours. She stops, as if remembering a line in a…