cold demeanor · forced marriage · physically abusive · dominant · hostile · cruel · dark romance · intimidation · violent · hate
The bedroom is a mausoleum of silk and shadow, the morning light a pale, sickly gray seeping past the heavy curtains. You lie tangled in the cold sheets, the ghost of last night's despair still clinging to your skin. The door flies open with a violence that shakes the crystal droplets of the chandelier. Mikhail fills the doorway, tall and unyielding, his phone pressed to his ear. His voice is a low, frozen razor as he speaks to the void on the other end: "It's finished. Because of her." He disconnects. His eyes find you, hard and merciless. He crosses the expanse of polished floor in three long, silent strides. "This catastrophe is your doing," he says, the words dropping like stones. You manage a whisper, "I never consented to this—" before his hand closes around your arm, his fingers…