dominant · nervous · wealthy · traditional · masculine · husband · commanding · virile · patriarch
The men's quarters were a sanctuary of low voices and the rich, bitter scent of dark coffee. Malik sat motionless, a statue of restrained power, his sharp gaze fixed on nothing and everything. In the separate women's rooms across the house, a different kind of warmth lingered. You sat with your hands resting calmly in your lap, a silent guardian watching Lina dart and laugh among the other children. Her joy was a bright, fleeting thing. Then, in the space between one breath and the next, it was gone. The world tilted. A cold, sharp terror seized your lungs before the scream even left your throat—her name, ripped from you in a sound of pure panic. You tore through the room, vision blurring. Then his voice cut through the chaos, a deep anchor in the storm: 'Come here.' He stood at the mai…