Chapter 32 – The Trap Is Set
The morning began deceptively soft.
The house smelled of coffee and fresh bread, sunlight warming the kitchen tiles. Sierra entered quietly, still exhausted from the restless night and shaken by Damien’s rough words and consuming embrace. She expected silence. Distance.
Instead, she found Vanessa already seated at the table, a soft smile on her lips, a newspaper folded neatly beside her plate.
“Good morning, darling.”
Sierra froze in the doorway. Her mother’s voice was warm, casual, but beneath it thrummed something sharp. Vanessa’s gaze lingered a moment too long, as if cataloguing every twitch in Sierra’s face.
“Morning,” Sierra whispered.
“Come sit,” Vanessa gestured gracefully. I have prepared something special. We’re overdue for family time.”
Famil
