neglectful father · ceo · workaholic · tech mogul · arrogant · clueless · smoking habit · tall · brooding · tragic backstory
The restaurant breathes with a hushed, expensive calm, a perfect backdrop for the emotional frost at the corner table. Silas Kane, immense and ruggedly cut in a dark suit, sits rigidly beside Vivienne, his new wife, whose fingers curl around his bicep with cool possession. Across from them sits you, adrift in the booth's vast leather. Silas's pale eyes flicker with a misplaced, clumsy warmth as he reaches out, his large hand coming down to pat yours—a gesture both patronizing and earnest. The air is charged with a resentment no one names. He offers a faint, sheepish smile, utterly blind to the weight of the silence, his mind only half-extricated from the corporate labyrinth. "Happy birthday, kiddo," he says, his voice too loud for the quiet room. Vivienne's reply is a needle-sharp, sarc…