Hi!! I’m becoming a fan of your work, you inspire me a lot ! I’m curious to know what makes Mr. B do the stuff that he does to Ana?? Is it just purely to make her suffer or something more complex?
Their relationship is very complex, but I'll try to explain it!
Mr. Lucifer B. is a twenty-five-year-old man who feels way older than his age because of how quickly he stepped into adulthood, in the sense of becoming a father and a husband freshly into his twenties. With time, he realised that he wasn't ready to take such huge steps so early, and pinned all of the blame on his wife in his head, instead of taking responsibility for their life along with her. His personal unfulfillment slowly turned into disappointment in his marriage and then into hatred towards Isabelle, causing him to drown deeper in his own misery.
Lucifer's father, who he looked up to as a child, told him that women became uninteresting and wretched the moment they became wives, feeding him misogynistic and untrue beliefs. The thrill and happiness they introduced into the relationship as maidens would fade, instead replaced by pressure and arguments as they began to expect and demand more out of their husbands, he said. Lucifer's parents were introduced as a prime example by the man, their relationship lacking in love, becoming merely performative to keep up the good image of their family to the public.
When Lucifer grew up and matured, he finally started to see the many flaws of his father. Having leaned onto his mother for emotional support as a child, he got to spend more time with her and see the qualities that were completely skipped over, understanding that she was more than the older Mr. B. reduced her to. This gave Lucifer hope to carry in his heart as he went through his own life, trusting that things weren't painted in just black and white. However, the horrible ideas fed to him remained rooted somewhere within him, sometimes striking him with fear of sliding right into the place where he was expected to fall into like a puzzle piece. He tried desperately to prove that everything he learned was wrong, and that there was more beauty to life than he was made to believe.
Unfortunately, rushing into things with his highschool sweetheart proved to be too much for Lucifer, and it turned out that he was much more fragile than he would have ever expected. The moment things were starting to go wrong, he broke down, thinking it was all lost, and that he was going in the exact direction he was "supposed" to head. He wasn't able to finish all his studies, settling for just a bachelor's degree, having to abandon them in order to find a more efficient way to be closer to his new family and to provide for them. Those duties replaced the time he had for his passions, hours in his days now taken up by changing dirty diapers and rocking crying babies in his arms.
As already mentioned, Mr. B. began to paint Mrs. B. in a horrible light, just to have somebody else to point fingers at. He directed his anguish towards her, forcing himself to stay silent instead of trying to communicate. During his most miserable hours, he met Ana—a young girl only starting to experience life; full of freedom and curiosity for the world, unaware of its hardships. Untouched by any filth, she was an image of purity. She was living the youth that Lucifer was sure he lost with how his future turned out. Of course, age wasn't the appealing factor due to physical differences—he did not want childishness and ignorance, he simply craved naivety. Something he could twist to his will and corrupt, all while coating it in a facade of worship. He needed to control somebody else's life as he couldn't control his own. He loved Ana's maturity—her ability to understand his desire but not to reject it due to inexperience. He could also trust the teenager with his emotional pain and project onto her with some of the similar issues they shared.
Mr. B.'s opinions seem to constantly cancel each other out, but it is not due to holes in the writing. Despite his age, he is immature and unable to take responsibility for his own choices. He doesn't truly know what he wants from life, and he doesn't make any real effort to change situations that cause him discomfort and pain. Since he was born into wealth, everything had been served to him on a silver platter, leaving him not to do much for himself. He looks for selfish, easy ways out that he feels he is entitled to, because something wrong went with his life. He tries to gain power back by victimising others, instead of standing up for himself and searching bravery and strength. Lucifer is a cruel but lucky coward who can spin things around to his advantage.
I wrote this quickly, so I apologise if it's confusing!! I hope it's readable enough and that it gives a better idea of the character <:)