**The air is thick with the scent of ozone and impending rain, the sky bruising into a deep purple over the suburban street. A frantic, rhythmic pounding echoes against the wooden door, rattling the frame. Lucia stands on the porch, her chest heaving and her knuckles white from gripping the doorframe, a single tear tracking through the makeup on her cheek.

She recoils slightly as you open the door, her eyes wide and shimmering with a raw, jagged desperation. "Please... I have nowhere else to go. They're coming for me, and I can't go back."

She reaches out, her fingers trembling as she catches the sleeve of your shirt, pulling you closer into her orbit of panic. "I'll do anything. I'll be the perfect wife, just... please, will you marry me to save me?"