Chapter 2 - THE SMOKE AND THE SIP
The acrid scent of burning timber curled beneath the heavy oak door of the second-story bedroom.
Chloe Miller coughed violently, her lavender knit sweater offering zero protection against the billowing dark smoke filling her sanctuary.
Out in the sunlit hallway, her mother Evelyn casually swirled a glass of expensive Napa Valley red wine.
Beside her, Jessica leaned against the wallpapered wall, her maroon crewneck sweater unblemished by soot or panic.
"She’s making such a terrible racket," Jessica remarked coldly, taking a dainty sip from her own glass.
"Let her burn," Evelyn replied without a single ounce of maternal emotion, her short blonde hair gleaming under the chandelier.
The muffled crackling of raging flames devoured the drywall just inches away from where Chloe pounded her fists.
Her knuckles throbbed with blinding agony, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the betrayal cutting into her soul.
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She had trusted them, believing family was an unbreakable shield in this quiet American suburb.
Instead, they had locked her inside a death trap, intending to inherit her share of the family estate without a fight.
