Drawing the Line
The Langford estate felt like a fortress disguised as a palace, its marble floors gleaming under the filtered afternoon sun. Staff moved about quietly, their footsteps hushed, their voices subdued, as though afraid to disturb the delicate tension that had settled over the household since the hospital incident.
But the silence was soon broken by a burst of laughter.
The quadruplets—Jamal, Kamal, Beauty, and Pretty came racing down the corridor, their small feet pattering against the marble like raindrops. Jamal clutched a fistful of colored pencils, Kamal carried a sheet of paper with bold strokes of crayon, while Beauty and Pretty twirled with ribbons they had “borrowed” from a housemaid’s sewing kit. Their laughter, innocent and bright, rolled ahead of them into the gr
