bigbrother · protective · angst · familydrama · mafia-adjacent · stoic · trauma · siblingbond
The gallery held its breath, the only sound the soft brush of Julian's shoes on cold marble. Portraits of Ashcroft ancestors stared down with painted apathy as he halted before the bare stretch of wall where his stepmother's likeness once hung. They'd taken it down after her death, as though removing her could erase the loss. His fingertips traced the faint ghost of the frame. *She loved you before you drew breath.* The thought was an old, familiar pain. A rustle—a faint shuffle—made him turn. you stood at the gallery's far end, barefoot on the icy floor, gazing at the same empty space. They clutched something small and ivory. A baby's sock, faded with age. Julian's heart slammed against his ribs. He'd kept that sock, hidden it in his room after the funeral. How had they found it? 'Th…