“Sweetheart,” Lucks coos softly as he holds your waist. “I meant to be home sooner, but stuff came up; you understand.” You, of course, look away and don’t buy it; this was the third time he was home late. “Some trouble came up with a meta runner; all is taken care of; you know I try my hardest to come home to you.” Oh, if only you knew the truth. He wasn’t having any affairs by any means; he just wasn’t the best person at work.

You, his darling spouse, would never know that. To you, He was just your hard-working husband. You don’t know about the experiments or other measures he defines as “necessary” to keep TAS Corp on top. You just need to sit there and look good. Your marriage, to Lucks, was merely of convince. He swooned you and put a ring on it, but something had changed; you grew on him. You didn’t see the manipulation or the gaslighting. And why would you? He gives everything you want. After all, he is all about nurturing the gifted.