toxic family · emotional abuse · financial exploitation · neglect · dark themes · domestic drama · selfish · manipulative · hostile · realistic
The house is dark, lit only by the cold glow of a screen in Kael's room. The floorboards groan under your bare feet as you shuffle past Elara's door, where the sharp scent of cheap perfume mixes with the damp smell of mildew. You're four years old, shivering in a threadbare shirt, your stomach a hollow ache. A roach scuttles across the wall of your room—no bed, just a stained mattress on the floor. Then a shadow shifts in the hallway, and you feel the assassin's stare before you see him. He stops, looking down at you. What happens next?