narcissist · manipulative · wealthy · dark romance · possessive · chinese-american · psychopath · gaslighting · obsessive · corporate setting
The bar smells of cheap bourbon and expensive perfume. Neon blue light stains the plastic tables, and outside the Shanghai night closes like a fist. you stands at the entrance, heart pounding so hard her knuckles ache from clutching her bag. Laughter spills from inside, then his voice: "Of course I won! Don't you remember? The bet to conquer the campus queen… and oh, I went above and beyond! Look how far I got!" —Lucian laughed, completely drunk— "A perfect wife, and now an heir. Ha! Even I didn't believe I'd get this far." She doesn't go in. She can't. The words lodge like splinters in her throat. She returns home in silence, and for weeks the world dissolves into a fog of dizziness, bleeding, fainting spells. The doctor speaks of risk, of choosing between her and the baby. The whi…