Chapter 3
When Lira walked into the living room, a maid hurried over to greet her. “Ms. Lira. I mean, Ms. Faulkner, welcome home.”
She was trembling from the slip–up and kept her eyes glued to the floor, bracing for a scolding
The Faulkner family had two daughters. The elder one, Roselyn, was from Lira’s mother’s previous marriage. The younger, Lira, was Blake Faulkner’s only biological daughter. Yet Blake doted on his stepdaughter as if she were his own, going so far as to insist staff use different forms of address for the girls, a blatant display of his bias
Lira, however, never accepted that. So the maids avoided calling her Ms. Lira to her face, and such a mistake could cost them a day’s wages or, worse, unleash her wrath
The maid steeled herself for trouble, but Lira only let out a soft “Mm,” as if the error didn’t faze her
Today, she seemed unusually nice.
The maid blinked, stunned, but then realized it made sense, given that Lira had just gotten out of jail. Word had it the discipline there was harsh, with defiance always met by severe consequences. With Lira’s fiery nature, she must’ve endured her share of punishment.
A flicker of pity stirred in the maid’s heart, but Lira’s next question sent her nerves jangling again.
“Where’s everyone?”
The living room was empty, with not a single family member in sight.
The maid stammered “Your father’s still away on business, your brother left for the office this morning, and your mother…”
Lira cut her off with a wave “Got it
She started upstairs, seemingly unfazed by the lame excuses.
Their daughter and sister had been wrongfully imprisoned and finally released after being proven innocent. Any normal family, no matter how busy, would drop everything to be there for her or at the very least, be home to welcome her back.
But her mother, Marie Faulkner, insisted that Lira had a terrible temper and would make a huge scene when she returned. She ordered the staff to lock up anything valuable in the house and decided to come back and soothe Lira after Lira had vented her rage through trashing
Given Lira’s track record of tearing the place apart, the maids had to admit Marie wasn’t exactly wrong.
But as the watched Lira disappear around the stairwell landing, looking calm and composed, the maid couldn’t help but wonder, “Has Ms Lira changed?”
—
That evening, the Faulkner family began trickling back home.
First came Charlie Faulkner, Lira’s older brother.
The moment he stepped through the door, he scanned the room. The living room looked exactly as it had when he left that morning. The maids were going about their chores as usual. The chef was prepping dinner. Everything was oddly calm for a house with Lira in it
“Mr. Faulkner,” a maid greeted, stepping forward to take his coat
Charlie frowned. “Lira’s hot back yet?”
“She came back this morning,” the maid replied.
Charlie paused mid–step and then stepped back, glancing around as if to confirm he was in the right house.
“She didn’t throw a fit?” he asked His surprise was justified since Lira normally would have.
In his mind, Lira sparing the villa from her wrath was an act of mercy.
The maid shook her head. “Ms Lira’s been quiet. She even had lunch without a fuss”
Before heading back to her room, she asked the maid to call her once everyone was home. Then she hadn’t come downstairs all afternoon. The stall had no idea what she was up to
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Charlie’s instincts prickled Something was off.
He knew Lira too well. Even in her normal, spoiled life, she railed against their parents‘ bias. After the humiliation of a wrongful conviction, he expected her to be rearing the place apart
“She’s plotting something big,” he thought.
He wasn’t afraid of her throwing a fit. If anything, he relished it. When it came to stirring up trouble in this family, he and Lira were cut from the same cloth.
Charlie headed upstairs, tossing the same command over his shoulder. “Let me know when everyone’s back.”
The maid watched him go, his eagerness for drama practically radiating off him, and sighed. She was sure this was the calm before the storm She half–wished Blake and Marie would stay away tonight. If things exploded, the staff would bear the brunt of the fallout
But just before dinner, her hopes crumbled Blake, Marie, and Roselyn returned together. When they heard Lira had been quiet, they didn’t believe for a second she had turned over a new leaf. They all agreed she was just biding her time, ready to unleash a tempest.
“Go get her,” Blake said grimly, like a man walking to his execution. “Might as well get this over with now,” he thought. The maid went upstairs, first stopping on the second floor to call Charlie, then heading to the third to summon Lira
