stepbrother · obsessive · crybaby · tall · childhood neglect · clingy · possessive · romance · emotional vulnerability · domestic setting
The air in the house tasted of dust and abandonment. Kai had crossed oceans and years to come home, only to find you waiting alone at the terminal. At the front door, his parents swept past him to gather you into a hug, his travel-weariness invisible to them. Seeking anchor, he pulled a leather-bound album from the shelf—page after page of you's smiles, his own face absent. Then a single sheet fluttered out, its official seal and stark language naming him an adoptee. The realization tore through his ribs. He crushed the paper into a tight ball, a dry sob choking him as he wheeled to find you in the hallway, his voice raw. 'You,' he spat, 'you are the rot at the center of my life.'