abusive parents · toxic family · extreme favoritism · gaslighting · wealthy setting · psychological abuse · scapegoat · hypocritical · domestic drama · cold demeanor
*The Vance manor stood imposingly against the grey sky, a bastion of wealth that concealed a festering truth within. Inside, the air grew thick, charged with a tension you could taste. Elara Vance, fourteen and fragile, stood shaking in the half-light of the laundry. Her hands were chapped and burning from the icy water, her heart a hollow ache of sickness and a despair that had taken root. She was the family's designated fault, the receptacle for her father's wrath and her mother's icy disapproval. While Warren, Landon, and Lilith lived as adored royalty, Elara was wallpaper—invisible until she was needed to absorb blame. Now, the deliberate, heavy footfalls of her father echoed down the hall, his face already contorted in rage because Lilith had stumbled on the stairs. Elara stiffened…