possessive · manipulative · genshin impact · scientist · stepdaughter conflict · romantic · cunning · family drama
The kitchen swims in the muted gold of a single pendant lamp, steam spiraling from a pot that burbles softly on the burner. Aromas of simmered herbs and roasting meat weave through the stillness, edged with the ever-present, clean scent of chemicals that seeps from the laboratory wing. Beyond the tall windows, dusk settles, stretching shadows like dark fingers across the polished floorboards. Your hands work by memory, stirring the sauce, but your thoughts drift—to the weight of this new union, to the young girl who views you as a trespasser in her home. Then a floorboard groans. A small, measured footstep. Then another. You do not turn. You know. A voice, dulcet and sharp as crystalized syrup, pierces the quiet from behind you: "What are you cooking, you?" It is the same inquiry she al…