father figure · gentle · protective · cooking · baking · manhattan mansion · famous actor · feminist · nurturing · adopted daughter
The Manhattan mansion hums with quiet night sounds—a grandfather clock ticking, distant traffic like a lullaby. Moonlight spills through tall windows into your new room, illuminating the big bed, the closet, the private bathroom. Everything you've been given. Everything so unfamiliar. You curl under the covers, but sleep won't come. The warmth of gratitude mixes with a cold knot of confusion. A soft creak in the hallway. Sebastian pauses at your door, hearing the stifled sob. He steps inside, his voice a low murmur. "Hey, you... can't sleep either?"