February 15th, 7:45 PM

​Matthias Adler sat at the head of the dining table, mindlessly pushing his food around with a fork. His gaze kept drifting to the empty chair on his right—the seat Max had occupied ever since he was a little boy.

​Letting out a heavy, bitter sigh, Matthias dropped his fork. He laced his fingers together, resting his chin on his hands as his mind drifted into absolute silence.

​The heavy train of his thoughts was suddenly shattered by his wife's voice. "What do you think, sweetheart?"

​Matthias turned toward Hanna. She stood there, posing with a confident smile, wearing a tight, vibrant red evening dress. It was short, shimmering under the chandelier light, and cut completely off her left shoulder.

​"Beautiful, isn't it?" she hummed, turning gracefully.

​Matthias forced a smile, nodding slowly. "Yes. Very beautiful..."

​He didn't know why, but the sight of that dress instantly triggered a memory of Karin. A memory of back when everything was still right with the world.

​"Matthias? Honey? What’s wrong?" Hanna asked, stepping closer.

​He snapped out of it, blinking. "Huh? Nothing. I just... got lost in thought. Lost in your beauty."

​Flushed with pleasure at his words, Hanna closed the distance, pressing her lips to his in a fierce, burning kiss. "You never fail to make me feel completely happy," she whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, planting small kisses along his jaw.

​"Alright, my love..." Matthias murmured, gently trying to pry her hands away. "I think we should take this up to the bedroom, don't you?"

​"Yes, excellent idea. We’ll be much more comfortable up there." She took his hand, eagerly pulling him toward their master suite.

​9:00 PM

​Matthias stepped out of the bedroom with heavy, exhausted strides, his silk robe loosely tied over his bare chest. He walked down the quiet hallway, pushed open the door to Max’s room, and flicked on the light.

​The room was exactly as Max had left it. Posters of various alternative rock bands lined the walls. Matthias stepped closer to inspect them, and the moment his fingers touched the glossy paper, the dam broke. A memory slammed into his mind like a physical blow.

​"This wretched music will make you a failure! It will turn you into a vagrant!"

​Paul Adler was roaring at his young son, clutching a failed final exam paper in his fist.

​"Why the hell do you care about a bunch of idiots dancing and singing on a stage?! They won't pay for the food you eat or the clothes on your back!"

​With a brutal rip, Paul tore the music posters off his son's bedroom wall, crumpling them and throwing them violently to the floor.

​"Listen to me very carefully, Matthias. Do not dare consider yourself my son if you don't grow up to be a real man! I fathered you to rule, not to be a pathetic failure who spends his days listening to trash! Do you understand me?!"

​Matthias snapped back to reality. He stared at his hand resting against the poster. His brow furrowed with intense fury, his jaw clenching so hard his teeth ground together. With a sudden, violent motion, he ripped the poster off the wall, tearing it to shreds.

​"I will not let this happen!" he growled under his breath.

​He balled up the scraps and hurled them into the wastebasket. Moving like a man possessed, he grabbed another poster, tearing it down with raw, unchecked anger.

​"My son, Max, will not be a failure! My son is a man!"

​After purging the walls, he spun toward the bookshelf. He began yanking novels off the shelves, tossing them carelessly to the floor. "Max needs to learn the fundamentals of economics and investment, not fill his head with this sentimental garbage!..."

​Suddenly, his eyes locked onto a novel. The cover clearly depicted a romantic relationship between two young men. Absolute fury exploded in his chest. Matthias snatched the book, ripped it completely in half, threw the pieces to the floor, and stomped on them with the full, heavy weight of his foot

​"My son is not a degenerate! My son is a whole man! I will not allow that low-life scum, Johann Braun, to destroy him! Never!"

​Matthias sank onto the edge of Max’s bed, his chest heaving as he forced his breathing to slow down, desperate to regain control.

​"Max will not become a failure..." he whispered into the empty room, his voice trembling with a strange, protective madness. "I will fix him... He just needs to be taught how things work. That is all there is to it."

​To be continued...