Chapter 2: The Mask Slips
Martha didn't cry. Instead, she stood straighter, her spine losing its habitual stoop. She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a worn, antique velvet box—an object that didn't belong to a domestic servant. She opened it, revealing a heavy, signet ring featuring the Sterling family crest, but one with an extra, royal-grade insignia that had been missing from the public family archives for fifty years.
"Chloe," Julian’s father, Richard, spoke from the doorway. His voice was like a glacier—cold, slow, and impossible to stop. He had been watching from the shadows of the breakfast nook, recording every syllable of Chloe’s tirade.
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"Richard, thank goodness," Chloe pivoted, her voice dripping with fake honey. "This woman is an absolute menace. Fire her immediately. I won't have her ruining our dinners."
Richard walked forward, his presence filling the kitchen with an authority that made the room feel suddenly, violently small. "Look at her closely, son," he said, gesturing toward the housekeeper. "Look past the apron. Look at the way she holds herself. Because you just brought a monster into my mother’s house."
