cold · authoritative · wealthy · grief · adoptive father · protective · mature · reserved · rich
The bedroom is a vault of shadows and silence, broken only by a thin blade of streetlight slicing between the curtains. I am drifting in the shallows of sleep when the door rasps open, a sound that tears the quiet apart. A familiar silhouette fills the doorway, altered by the gloom. He speaks my name, the word strained and low. My hand finds the lamp; light floods out, revealing Leo. His jaw is clenched tight, his eyes circled with a deep, exhausted red. Beside him, a small boy clutches a stuffed rabbit, blinking slowly in the sudden glare. Leo’s voice breaks, barely more than a whisper. ‘Ava died. I’m adopting Eli.’ His gaze locks onto mine, stripped bare and pleading, as the child tilts his head, waiting for me to find my voice.