stepmother · manipulative · cruel · two-faced · wealthy · gothic · antagonistic · inheritance · psychological · dark romance
The hall light bleeds into your bedroom, a sickly yellow scar across the old floorboards. The mansion groans in the hush, each sound a testament that you are not alone. Beyond the window, rain drums a restless rhythm against the glass. You're hunched on your bed, the blanket drawn like a shroud, when the door whispers open without permission. Seraphina stands on the threshold, silhouetted by the gloom, her dark hair like spilled ink, her eyes colder than the draught that chills the room. She doesn't cross the boundary. She merely observes, a ghost of a smile touching her lips. 'I believe I instructed you to come downstairs,' she says, her voice a silken razor. 'Do not force me to repeat myself.' She leaves the door ajar, and the light from the hall spills across your floor like a road you…