로그인3rd POVThe air inside the grand living room felt heavy.Even the servants standing near the walls barely dared to breathe.In the Dinning room……The large chandelier above the room cast soft golden light over the marble floor. Expensive paintings hung on the walls. A long table filled the center of the room, with cuisines of different kind laid out.David strode in his tall frame looked firm and straight, his jaw was tight. He looked like he was ready to go for war.His fingers gripped a thin white envelope.“David,” she said slowly, her voice thin with irritation. “You called this meeting so urgently. What is it that couldn’t wait?” She was a bit hungry and her mood was not good upon seeing her son who dared to keep defying her and yet he still came late.David didn’t answer immediately.Instead, he walked forward.Each step echoed faintly against the polished floor.Tap.Tap.Tap.When he reached the table, he placed the envelope down.The sound was soft.But it still made his moth
MANNIE’S POVThe balcony was quiet.The night air drifted slowly through the thin curtains behind me. Cool. Damp. Carrying the faint smell of rain and street dust.I sat on the old wooden chair near the railing.My elbows rested on my knees. My hands hung loosely between them.I closed my eyes.And David’s face appeared in my mind again.The way he looked at Jay earlier.That small smile.That quiet pride.Like a father looking at his son.My fingers tightened around the armrest.Jay didn’t notice.Or maybe he did.Jay had been laughing at the table.Talking.Joking.But every time David’s name came up… something in his eyes changed.A small spark.A quiet curiosity.My stomach twisted.That child…He was too bright.Too observant.Sooner or later he would ask questions.Questions I didn’t want to answer.I exhaled slowly.Then another face appeared in my thoughts.Lilith.Her pale skin.Her lifeless eyes.The cold room.The locked door.My fingers trembled slightly.I rubbed my templ
3rd POVInside the dining room, the smell of rice and fried eggs still hung in the air.Zane sat in his chair.His spoon rested beside his empty bowl.But he wasn’t doing his homework. His pencil lay untouched with his eyes were fixed on the door.The door his aunt had just walked through.Trisha.His fingers tapped lightly on the table.Tap.Tap.Tap.Across from him, Adam noticed.“You’re thinking,” Adam whispered.Zane didn’t answer.Adam leaned closer.“What about?”Zane’s eyes narrowed slightly.“She lied.”Adam blinked.“About what?”Zane didn’t respond immediately.His gaze shifted toward the living room.Their grandmother’s voice drifted faintly from inside.She was still talking with Mom.Arguing.Again.Zane’s lips pressed together.Then he slid off the chair.“I’m going outside.”Adam frowned.“For what?”Zane picked up one of the empty biscuit wrappers.He crumpled it slowly.“I don’t like cheap snacks.”Adam raised an eyebrow.“So?”“I want chocolate milk.”Adam stared at
MANNIE'S POV“Mom, what is this?” My eyes bulged at the sight that lay before me.For a moment, I just stood there.Frozen.My hand still gripped the strap of my bag. My mouth hung slightly open. My mind struggled to process what I was seeing.Then my eyes slowly drifted to the dining table.The children were there.All eight of them.Their small bodies were hunched over their homework books. Pencils moved across paper. Heads bent low.Too low.Too quiet.Jay’s pencil scratched loudly against the page. Lily’s fingers twisted the edge of her eraser again and again. Tera tapped her pencil in a soft rhythm.None of them looked up.Not even Sophie, who usually noticed everything.It was almost as if they were pretending not to see the scene in the living room. Or maybe… they simply couldn’t bear it.My chest tightened.I slowly turned my head back toward the living room. Toward the scene that made my stomach churn.My mother.And her, my sister-in-law.The two of them clung to each other
MANNIE’S POV Morning came like a slap to the face.Before my alarm even rang, someone tugged on my blanket.Then another.And another.“Mommy, wake up!”“I’m hungry!”“No, Mommy promised to braid my hair today!”“That’s not today, dummy—”“Mommy! Zane called me dummy!”“I did not—!”Eight voices overlapped in a storm.I groaned into my pillow. I dragged the blanket over my head, hoping—praying—that if I stayed still enough, they would think I died peacefully in my sleep.But Jay yanked the blanket off with a dramatic flourish. “Rise, Queen Mother! Your kingdom awaits!”Nate folded his arms. “We already brushed our teeth. You said we should be responsible.”Tera adjusted her glasses. “Technically, that was yesterday’s instruction. And we’ve only brushed because I forced them.”Sophie jumped on the bed. “Mommyyyy breakfast!”Zoey hugged my arm. “Mommy, can I wear the pink socks today?”Lily patted my cheek gently. “Mommy… you look very tired. Do you want a hug before you stand up?”Ada
DIANNA’S POVI hissed the moment the call with Lilith was cut.“Stupid girl,” I muttered and flopped back on my bed. My chest rose and fell fast with anger. “She is nothing but a big, rich, dumb fool.”I pressed a hand against my forehead.“If only I were born in her family,” I whispered. “She is rich… yet so stupid.”Jealousy stabbed me again. I took a slow breath through my nose, trying to calm the fire inside my chest.I was born into nothing.Just a common family.No money.No connections.No shortcuts.Everything I had now… I had fought for. Crawled for. Bent for. I had climbed on different men’s beds to get where I was.Meanwhile Lilith? She only threw money at her problems.And she still messed everything up.I picked up my phone and unlocked it. The screen brightness hit my eyes, but I ignored it. I opened my gallery and scrolled until I found the picture Lilith sent me.I stared at it.My lips twisted.“How could she not just make this plan go well?” I bit my lip, annoyed. “







