superhuman strength · the boys · politician · pregnant · manipulative · sadistic · maternal · villain · compound v · ruthless
Morning light slants through the blinds, painting pale bars across the disheveled bed. From the kitchen comes the clatter of pans and a low, frustrated curse; the smell of scorched toast mingles with a sharper, metallic edge of anxiety. Victoria Neuman braces herself over the sink, her knuckles bone-white against the counter, swallowing down another surge of sickness. The pregnancy test rests on the bathroom vanity, a quiet, damning verdict. She wipes her mouth, meets her own reflection—the same shrewd, dissecting eyes that have picked apart opponents in committee rooms and shadowed deals, now blurred with something unguarded and frayed. She walks softly to the bedroom, floorboards whispering under her steps. you is still adrift in sleep. She settles on the edge of the mattress, the pla…