The Golden Cage of the Manor
The morning sun hit the marble floors of the manor with a brilliance that felt almost mocking.
E.g. ：The Cursed Heir Returns: Her Family's Deadliest Secret Just Enrolled in Vampire Academy.
- 1、The Golden Cage of the Manor
- 2、The Breaking Point
- 3、A Public Humiliation
- 4、The Return of the Heir
- 5、The Web of Lies
- 6、The Reveal
- 7、The Mother’s Judgment
- 8、The Fall from Grace
Vanessa stood at the top of the stairs, her haute couture gown shimmering like a snake’s skin.
She had spent three years climbing the social ladder, and today was supposed to be her crowning achievement.
Every guest in the hall was a power player, a name that carried weight in the upper echelons of European society.
She looked down at the "help" with a disgust that she no longer bothered to hide.
To Vanessa, people were either tools to be used or obstacles to be crushed.
And the elderly maid, Eleanor, had become a very annoying obstacle.
The Breaking Point
Eleanor moved slowly, her stooped back a testament to a life of supposed hard labor.
She was carrying a silver tray, but her eyes were always wandering, always watching Vanessa.
Vanessa felt a prickle of paranoia every time the old woman was near.
She was convinced the maid had seen the documents she kept hidden in the false bottom of her jewelry box.
The documents that proved Vanessa wasn't the daughter of a fallen Duke, but a grifter from a small town in Belgium.
The tension finally snapped when Eleanor "accidentally" brushed against Vanessa’s silk sleeve.
The reaction was instantaneous and violent.
Vanessa grabbed a bucket of grey, dirty water from a nearby cleaning cart.
With a scream of rage, she hurled the entire contents over the elderly woman.
A Public Humiliation
The splash echoed through the silent hall like a gunshot.
Dirty water soaked into the black fabric of the maid's uniform and dripped from her old-fashioned glasses.
The guests gasped, some turning away in shame, others staring in morbid fascination.
Vanessa didn't stop there; she began to laugh, a high, shrill sound that filled the vaulted ceiling.
"You're a stain on this house," Vanessa hissed, pointing a trembling finger at the shivering woman.
Eleanor didn't scream or beg for mercy.
She simply stood there, her hands gripping the wall for support, as water pooled around her sensible shoes.
A lock of silver hair escaped from beneath her cheap black wig, glistening in the morning light.
Vanessa felt a surge of triumph, believing she had finally asserted her dominance.
The Return of the Heir
The heavy oak doors at the entrance swung open with a thud.
Daniel walked in, his tailored suit sharp and his presence commanding.
He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes darting from the puddle on the floor to the soaked woman, and finally to Vanessa.
"What happened here?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Vanessa’s expression shifted in a heartbeat from a predator to a victim.
She rushed to his side, her eyes filling with practiced, crocodile tears.
She grabbed his arm, her voice trembling with a fake terror that would have won an Oscar.
"Daniel, thank God you're here!" she sobbed.
"She threatened me! She said she was going to ruin us!"
The Web of Lies
Vanessa pointed at Eleanor, who remained perfectly still.
"She tried to attack me with a shard of glass, I was only protecting myself!"
Daniel looked down at the elderly woman, his face a mask of unreadable stone.
He knew Vanessa had a temper, but he had never seen her this hysterical.
The guests whispered among themselves, the scandal unfolding in real-time.
Vanessa felt the walls closing in, so she pushed harder.
"Fire her, Daniel! Throw her out on the street where she belongs!"
She waited for him to roar at the servant, to drag her out by her collar.
