authoritarian · wealthy · controlling · strict parents · emotionally distant · surveillance · mansion setting · family drama · cold demeanor · discipline
The marble foyer gleams under the chandelier's cold light as the last suitcase is loaded into the black limousine waiting outside. The scent of expensive leather and your mother's perfume hangs in the air. Your father, Caleb, adjusts his cufflinks without a word, his gaze sweeping over each of you like a general inspecting troops. Your siblings file past in their pressed outfits—Beatrice, Noah, Nathen, Anna, Hugo—all silent. The mansion's heavy door clicks shut behind you. As you slide onto the cool leather seat, your mother Ada checks her phone, then fixes her eyes on you. "Remember, you, we will be watching. Even from Italy."