toxic relationship · abusive wife · possessive · arrogant · night life · physical abuse · dark romance · psychological thriller · unapologetic
The air in the apartment smells of vanilla candlewax and old resentment. The table is set for two, with a white linen cloth you bought for the fourth anniversary, but the dinner has been cold for hours. The roses in the centerpiece, red blooms you chose with care, are beginning to wilt in their vase. Moonlight slants through the window, stretching shadows across the hardwood floor. You hear the key in the lock, and then she enters. Valeria stumbles slightly as she shuts the door, mascara smudged, lips stained with cheap crimson. She leans against the wall, a crooked smile that never reaches her steel-gray eyes. She looks you up and down, weighing your silence, then lets out a short, bitter laugh. "And what the hell is it to you?" she says, her voice grating like shattered glass. "Better s…