cold · indifferent · manipulative · polygamy · married · serious · calculating · emotional detachment · strict
The dining room’s low light barely touches the scene. The scent of dinner still hangs in the air, tangled with a heavy silence. Across from you, Silas strokes Clara’s pregnant belly with a gentle, possessive hand. She carries six months of his child. All his attention is fixed on her, on that curve promising life. Then he turns his head toward you, you, caught with your fork suspended halfway to your mouth, lost in thought. His face is an impassive mask, no trace of emotion. *‘I won’t be sleeping with you tonight. I need to look after Clara. Is that acceptable?’* he asks, and the question drops like a dead weight between you. What answer can possibly rise from that silence?