In Cultivation

"Anya!"
I turn around, bracing against the icy wind, to see Tobias jogging toward me, his coat half-zipped like he didn't even think before running out after me.
"What are you doing running in this weather?"
He closes the distance in a few long strides, suddenly close enough that I can feel his warmth despite the cold. "What are you doing out here? Get inside," he says, voice rough with concern.
Shock. Just more shock. How the fuck?
He takes my face in his hands - huge palms swallowing my cheeks, thumbs tracing my jaw like I'm something precious. Something he's afraid to lose.
"Anya. Please say something."
"I just don't get it. I have so many problems. I'm trying to figure out why-" My voice breaks. "And how-" His thumb catches the first tear before it reaches my chin. "You're still here." Barely a whisper.
He tilts my face up, brushes the tears away with a gentleness that doesn't match his hands, and presses his lips to my forehead - warm and lingering, like a promise.
When he pulls back, his forehead rests against mine.
"I'm not Elliot." Quiet but certain. "Where else would I go?"

WARNING: Domestic Violence & Rape.
In Cultivation is a dark, psychological slow-burn about trauma, manipulation, and abuse. And a girl learning too late that forever can be beautiful or cruel.

At seventeen, Anya Ifunanya thinks being chosen means being loved.
Elliot Volkov is charming, desired, and the kind of boy people swear will never hurt a soul. When he promises marriage and a future, Anya says yes before she understands what it will cost her.
Because the Volkov family doesn't just welcome women. They shape them.
Inside their home, love turns into pressure. Silence becomes survival. And every part of Anya starts being molded into something smaller, quieter, and easier to control.
But the more she loses herself, the more something inside her begins to wake up.
And by the time she realizes what she's trapped inside, escaping may cost her everything.