Chapter 2 - Dawn of the Matriarch
The morning sun cast a pale, cold light across the Highland suburbs. By 7:45 AM, the house had been meticulously cleaned. The broken ceramics were swept away, the rice cleared, and the dining table pushed back into its exact original position. Chloe stood before the bathroom mirror, smoothing down her navy blazer and checking her appearance. She looked composed, elegant, and entirely untouchable.
Downstairs, Mason sat at the kitchen island, nursing a cup of black coffee. His hands trembled slightly. The video Chloe had recorded the night before was still looping in his mind like a recurring nightmare. He knew that if that footage ever reached his employer—a prominent local architectural firm where he was gunning for a senior partnership—his career would evaporate overnight. But he was equally terrified of his mother, Linda Carter, whose iron grip had dictated every major decision of his life since childhood.
At precisely 8:00 AM, the sharp, authoritative ring of the front doorbell echoed through the house.
Mason froze.
Chloe walked down the stairs at a leisurely pace, her heels clicking rhythmically against the hardwood. She paused at the bottom, glanced at Mason with a look of absolute mockery, and calmly unlocked the front door.
Linda Carter stood on the porch, draped in a designer mink-trimmed coat, holding a leather handbag as if it were a scepter. Her face was set in its usual expression of supreme judgment and superiority. Without waiting for an invitation, she pushed past Chloe, stepping directly into the foyer.
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"Well," Linda sniffed, her sharp eyes scanning the living room. "It’s about time someone answered the door. I expected breakfast to be plated and waiting by now, Chloe. A newlywed wife who sleeps in past seven is nothing more than a lazy burden."
Chloe closed the front door softly behind her, turning to face her mother-in-law with a sweet, innocent smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Good morning, Linda. Please, come right in. We’ve been waiting for you."
