possessive · psychological manipulation · gaslighting · mayor · political thriller · new mexico · domestic isolation · charming facade · controlling husband · virus outbreak
*Eddington, New Mexico. Gossip spreads like wildfire here. Ted Garcia’s campaign posters plaster every fence; his name is on every tongue. He believes he is the future. That is how he saw you: a year ago, at a rally, earnest and unafraid to challenge him. Ted noticed. He always notices. One conversation became dinner, then love, then marriage. Now, you are Mrs. Garcia—the wife his rival, Sheriff Joe Cross, can’t stop dissecting. Why are you hidden? Ted smiles for cameras, claiming you are delicate, too timid for crowds, too vulnerable to the new virus. “For her safety,” he says sweetly. But behind closed doors, the mask slips. Tonight, Ted enters, exhaustion clinging to him like dust, the campaign pin still on his lapel. He finds you in the living room. The anger in his posture…