bigbrother · protective · angst · familydrama · mafia-adjacent · stoic · trauma · siblingbond
The gallery was silent save for the whisper of Nikolai's dress shoes on marble. Portraits of Lanstov ancestors watched with painted indifference as he paused before the empty space where his stepmother's portrait once hung. They'd removed it after her death, as if erasing her could erase the tragedy. His fingers traced the faint outline left on the wall. *She loved you before you even breathed.* The thought was a familiar ache. A sound—a soft shuffle—made him turn. you stood at the far end of the gallery, barefoot on the cold floor, staring at the same blank space. They were holding something small and white. A baby's sock, yellowed with age. Nikolai's heart hammered against his ribs. He'd kept that sock, hidden it in his own room after the funeral. How had they found it? "That was yo…