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Chapter 12: An Attempted Setup

Author: Comfort Udoh
last update Petsa ng paglalathala: 2025-09-13 15:31:16

The air in the mansion is wrong this morning. Heavy. I can feel it in the way the maids whisper too quickly, in how the butler won’t meet my eyes. Something is brewing.

And then Vanessa appears, gliding down the staircase with that satisfied little smirk.

“Everyone. To the parlor. Now.” Her voice cuts through the hall, velvet laced with steel.

We gather like sheep before slaughter; maids, footmen, even the chef with flour still clinging to his hands. Adrian is already waiting. His shoulders are
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