Chapter 3: Crossing Boundaries

Rhea

The dining room didn't feel like a place for eating; it felt like a courtroom set to put my mom and I Into test and judgment. 

My mother, Margaret, stood by the sideboard,  gripping a silver serving spoon. She’d spent eight hours over a hot stove, but as she looked at Greg’s parents, she looked less like a wife and more like a servant awaiting a sentence. The air was thick—not just with the rich, savory scent of beef bourguignon, but with the suffocating weight of Grandpa Brenda’s judgment eyes.

I sat pinned between Jackson and Brandon like a prisoner in my own skin. Every time I shifted, their legs brushed mine, a constant, burning reminder of the sin we had almost committed in my bedroom. Even though I felt guilty they seemed unbothered.

At the head of the table, Grandpa Harold sat like a statue of granite. His silver hair was slicked back with military precision, and though he hadn't said a word, his silence felt like a physical weight. Beside him, Grandma Brenda didn't even look at her plate, her eyes narrowing at me the entire time.

"Child," Brenda said, her voice was polished,  She gestured vaguely at my dress with a manicured hand. "Where on earth did you find that... garment? The cape detail. It looks almost hand-stitched. Or is it hand-woven?"

I felt a sudden, foolish spark of hope. At least I've won something that seemed to impress her. I looked at my mom, whose eyes brightened instantly, thinking this was the bridge—the moment of connection with family she’d been praying for.

"Oh! I actually found it at a little thrift store downtown," I said, offering a small, tentative smile. "I love the texture of the weave. I thought it felt... unique."

The table went deathly quiet. Elowen, Greg’s youngest, let out a sharp, jagged burst of a laugh that she quickly muffled with a linen napkin.

Brenda’s smile didn't falter, but it turned razor-thin. "I just knew it," she sighed, turning to Harold as if I weren't even there. "I knew it was a fake. A 'thrift store' find. How charmingly... resourceful. A real Laurent would never allow a hemline to be finished with such a clumsy, pedestrian stitch. It’s quite obvious, isn't it?"

The spark in my mom's eyes died a painful death. She looked down at her plate, her face flooding with a deep, humiliated red.

"Brenda, for heaven's sake," Harold muttered, “Let the poor child be. She's eating."

"I’m just stating the obvious, Harold," Brenda replied, dabbing her lips daintily. "If we are to be seen in public together, one must know the difference between couture and... used rags."

Elowen shook her head, her eyes dancing with malice. "It’s okay, Rhea. Maybe Grandma can take you to a real store. You know, where the clothes don't smell like other people's old sweat."

I felt a protective rage boiling in my gut, but before I could snap back, Brandon leaned closer to me. His voice was low it barely traveled past my shoulder.

“Don’t listen to them, Cat,” he whispered, his eyes fixed on his wine glass. “I think the dress suits you. It gives easy access for a quick fuck.”

I swallowed hard, trying to control the heat pooling between my legs.

I reached for a glass of water and gulped it down, desperate to cool the sudden sweat breaking out across my body, though it did nothing to steady the rush racing through me.

“Stop talking nonsense,”  I said in a hushed tone.

He smiled arrogantly, fully aware of what he was doing to me. He brought his glass to his lips, taking a slow sip while watching me over the rim. “Just imagine how it would feel, us in the restroom of a club with you in this. I'd push it up around your waist, pin you against the cold tile wall, and fuck your little tight pussy until you forgot your own name.”

My pussy flooded instantly, soaking my panties. I gripped my fork so hard the metal bit into my flesh.

I stiffened, my breath hitching when I felt a large, warm hand settling firmly on my lap beneath the table, slightly pushing up my dress.

My fork clattered against my plate. The hand didn't stay still. It began to crawl upward, the fingers grazing the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, and heading straight for the epicenter of the ache Brandon had just ignited.

I looked down, peering through the small gap between my chair and the white tablecloth.

It was Jackson’s hand.

What the fuck is he doing? My mind screamed. Someone might notice. The table was crowded, the room was bright, and yet he was playing a game of chicken with our lives. I tried to shrug his hand off, pressing my knees together, but he gripped my leg in place with a strength that brooked no argument.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, the words barely a breath. “Please stop.”

An arrogant smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He didn't even look at me. With his free hand, he used a fork to spear a piece of chicken, taking a calm, appreciative bite as if he weren't currently violating every rule of his father’s house.

I could barely concentrate on the conversation above the table. My world had narrowed down to the sensation of his fingertips inching closer to the lace of my underwear. To distract myself, or perhaps to find some anchor in reality, my attention drifted to Elowen.

She was poking at a piece of chicken with her fork as if it were a dead lab rat. She took a tiny bite, chewed for two seconds, and then her face contorted in a mask of pure, performative disgust.

“Ugh! Fuck!” she gagged. The word sliced through the silence like a blade. She grabbed a paper towel and spat the half-chewed food into it with a wet, heavy thud. “This is disgusting. It tastes like actual shit.”

“Language, girl,” Greg muttered. He didn't look up. His tone lacked any real bite, more of a tired reflex than a true reprimand.

“Oh, leave her to express herself, Greg,” Brenda interjected. She offered a cold, thin smile that didn't reach her eyes. She pushed her own plate away as if the mere proximity of the food was an insult. “The girl is right. The seasoning is… well, it’s completely tasteless. It’s quite bland, isn't it?”

My heart sank for my mom. I watched her face fall. The light in her eyes flickered and died, replaced by a shimmer of hurt she tried so hard to hide. She kept a broad, fake smile plastered on her face-the smile of a woman who was being stepped on and was apologizing for being under someone's boot. Ever since we moved into this mansion, she had been a saint. She'd tried to win over Greg's kids with kindness, and all they did was spit in her face.

“Oh… I’m so sorry, darling,” Mom said, her voice small and trembling. “If you don’t like it, I’ll try to make it better next time. I can go to the kitchen right now and make you a grilled cheese? Or a salad?  It would only take a moment.”

“The food tastes good to me,” Jackson said suddenly.

The movement of his hand between my legs paused, his fingers hooking just under the edge of my panties. The table went silent. I looked up, stunned. I didn't expect a compliment to come from him—Jackson was usually the most cutting, the most cold-blooded of them all. I turned to look at him, and my breath caught. He was looking right at me, his green eyes hooded and dark with an unspoken hunger.