Chapter Text
"And in a turn of events no one expected, today in a press conference, CEO Pepper Potts and Stark Industries' owner, Tony Stark, announced their engagement. The pair has been together since 2010, following Miss Potts' controversial promotion from PA to CEO. A rumored split between the pair occurred tha-"
You shut the television off, in shock. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Your dad proposed, proposed, to the person he only recently got back together with. You thought they weren't that serious--after all, if they had broken up once, especially so recently, their relationship couldn't be that strong, could it? Hell, you were half-expecting the honeymoon period to end and them to break up again any day now.
But alas, it's not to be. And your resentment towards Pepper grows, now that her spot has been cemented in your father's--and, by extension, your--life; before, when she was relegated to just the longest-lasting subject of your father's reaction, you were fine with her, but now...? Not so much. No, you hate her.
Your hate, of course, only managing to cover up your fear--your fear that you've been replaced; your fear that, now that there are two most-important women in your father's life, time will prove for there to be room for naught but one and you will be the one found wanting, the one removed.
But you love your father, and he's happy. So you try to stay quiet, keep it to yourself, but the nail-biting and anxiety and jealousy build, and soon enough it starts outing itself on its own. Still, you valiantly attempt to keep it tamped down.
Emphasis on try.