SEBASTIANAs soon as I stepped into the house, the familiar scent of home wrapped around me, but it did little to ease the tension gripping my chest. My mother was the first to greet me, standing in the dimly lit hallway with a worried look on her face. It was already past 10 PM, and I hadn’t mentioned to her this morning that I would be coming home late.“You missed dinner,” she said, her soft voice laced with concern. Her delicate brow furrowed as she reached out, brushing my hair from my face like I was still her little boy. “Are you okay?”“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine,” I lied, forcing a small smile to reassure her. But the truth was, I wasn’t fine. I hadn’t been fine for days. The weight of my father’s expectations hung over me like a storm cloud, threatening to break at any moment.My little sister, Kiara, bounded into the hallway, her face lighting up when she saw me. “Seb! You missed out! Mom made your favorite.”“Sorry, squirt. Got held up,” I said, ruffling her blonde hair, though t
Read more