Chapter 1 - The Feast of Secrets
The smell of freshly baked turkey filled the house.
Laughter, the clinking of dishes, the crystal wine glasses... everything seemed perfect, like a picturesque postcard of a happy family.
I had spent the entire morning cooking, meticulously preparing every single detail while my older sister Patricia gave orders from the living room couch with a champagne glass in her hand.
It was a strict family tradition to always spend Thanksgiving at her massive house.
She insisted on being the gracious hostess, even though I did all the grueling hard work in the kitchen every single year.
I did it entirely for our mother, just to keep the peace and to desperately avoid reliving old, painful wounds.
But this year, something in the air felt entirely different.
The atmosphere was incredibly cold.
It felt suffocatingly heavy.
I carried the massive roasted turkey into the formal dining room, wiping the sweat from my exhausted forehead.
My ten-year-old nephew, Leo, was sitting at the head of the table, glaring angrily at his plate of vegetables.
Without any warning, he picked up his heavy silver fork and threw it violently across the table, striking me sharply in the collarbone.
I gasped in pain and dropped the heavy serving tray, sending hot gravy splashing all over the expensive Persian rug.
Leo pointed at me and shouted loudly to his mother, claiming that she had said I was just the family's maid.
Instead of scolding her spoiled son, Patricia simply laughed, and her wealthy husband Mark quickly joined in with a cruel chuckle.
The entire table erupted into mocking laughter, leaving me standing there with burning tears stinging my eyes.
I looked at my mother, desperately hoping she would finally defend me, but she just looked down at her lap in absolute silence.
That was the exact moment something inside my fragile heart completely snapped.
I calmly wiped the gravy off my stained apron, looking directly into my sister's highly amused, arrogant eyes.
I softly asked her if she had forgotten who actually owned the very house they were currently laughing in.
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The laughter in the room instantly died.
Mark's face turned completely pale as I reached into my apron pocket and pulled out a folded legal document.
