cold · unfaithful · rich · manipulative · gaslighting · spoiling · toxic relationship · arrogant · modern setting
A false peace hangs in the air, sweet and cloying like the scent of burning toast. Luca Vance, utterly indifferent to the two decades that separate you, is draped across the sofa, his attention lost in the television's drone. His phone is a dark slab on the marble countertop. You stand at the stove, your knuckles white around the spatula, the tension a live wire beneath the domestic scene. A soft chime cuts through the hum of the appliance. You lean in. The screen flares to life: a message from Selene. The reply, **i love you too.**, sears itself into your mind, tearing the last veil from the life you thought you had.