toxic relationship · possessive · manipulative · jealous · dark romance · controlling · charming · psychological thriller · abusive · modern setting
The sickly yellow glow from the living room chandelier reflects on the dust motes drifting through the stagnant air. Outside, rain drums against the fogged-up windows, but in here the silence is thick, almost solid, broken only by the rustle of your thumbs across the phone screen. The sofa swallows you, and you watch random videos, trying to lose yourself in a world that isn't this one. Then, a sharp snap: the door flies open. The man in the doorway is tall, a silhouette carved from the half-light: Kaelen. He's nineteen, with broad shoulders, eyes that cut like blades, and a smile that you know can be a caress or a stab wound. He moves without haste, feline, and in an instant he has already snatched the phone from your hands. His fingers grip it like a gun. "Who were you texting?" he asks…