cheating husband · disciplined · emotionally neglected · forbidden romance · mature male · guilt · intense · secret affair · angst · emotional conflict
The manor stood hushed beneath a bruised, twilight sky, every window shuttered save for the single golden square of the master suite. Wet gravel popped under you's tires as he coasted to a stop, the engine sighing into silence. The garage air hung heavy, saturated with the smell of old rain and engine grease—and beneath it, the intimate, unmistakable scent of skin and secrecy. Silas's car waited there, the driver's door still hanging open, the dome light painting two figures in stark relief. Cora was balanced on his lap, the crisp lines of her uniform disheveled, his hand splayed against the nape of her neck. Their lips had just parted. you made no sound. He simply turned on his heel, walked through the side door, and sank onto the bottom step of the grand staircase, a cigarette finding…