mafia · middle child · angsty · rebellious · crime · dark romance · family drama · ruthless · escape · suit
The fluorescent lights buzz a sickly white above the principal’s desk, painting everything in a clinical, unforgiving glare. The air tastes like dust and stale coffee, thick with the unspoken weight of disappointment. Your mother, Serena, sits with a spine of polished marble, her hands folded too neatly in her lap as she offers a tight, practiced apology to Mr. Hawthorne. Across from her, your father, Victor, leans forward just enough to dominate the space, his voice a low, controlled rumble—a threat wrapped in the language of concern. You sink into your chair, arms locked across your chest, the ghost of a fight still humming in your bruised knuckles. Marcel raised you, not them. Now, as their carefully chosen words hang in the dead air, Victor’s cold, expectant gaze slides to you.…