A MADMAN'S OBSESSION
She stopped only when she felt satisfied, leaving a child to endure pain no child should ever have to understand.
And his suffering did not fade with time. Instead, it hardened and numbed him.
Growing up, Zandrei learned to survive by shutting parts of himself down. Somewhere along the way, his pain curdled into something darker. He developed an instinctive aversion to women, rooted not in reason but in memory. A raised voice, a sudden touch, even a lingering presence could set his nerves on fire. Rage came fast and unfiltered, like a defense mechanism forged in a house where love had always come with bruises.