Chapter 1 - The Empty Chair
The grand luxury dining room of the Moretti estate was suffocatingly tense beneath the glow of the massive crystal chandelier.
Twelve elite guests sat around the long, polished mahogany table, picking at their expensive meals in awkward silence. The center of the table was lined with pristine white floral arrangements, but the real focal point of the room was a single, empty wooden dining chair placed right next to the head of the table.
Sitting directly across from the empty chair was Victoria. She was a striking, blonde woman in her late forties, wearing a dark red off-the-shoulder gown and a teardrop diamond necklace that caught the candlelight. She was the estate manager, the sister of the late Mrs. Moretti, and the woman who acted as if she owned the entire mansion.
Victoria glared at the empty chair with absolute, unadulterated disgust.
She turned her sharp, cold eyes toward Madison. Madison was a young woman in her twenties, wearing a standard black maid uniform with a stiff white collar. Her dark hair was slightly messy, and her hands trembled as she stood quietly by the wall.
"Take that chair away, Madison," Victoria ordered, her voice authoritative and echoing over the quiet clinking of silverware.
Madison flinched, stepping forward tentatively. She grabbed the heavy wooden back of the empty chair, but she didn't pull it away. She looked completely terrified, her eyes darting nervously toward the head of the table.
"Mr. Moretti asked me to leave it there, ma'am," Madison whispered, her voice shaking.
Victoria slowly set her wine glass down on the table. She looked up at the young maid with a cold, incredibly intense expression that made the wealthy guests shift uncomfortably in their seats.
"I just told you to remove it," Victoria said, her voice dropping to a lethal, threatening whisper.
Madison gasped, her hand flying up to clutch her own neck as a sharp, phantom pain flared up. Her fingers trembled so violently that she lost her grip on the heavy wood.
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The empty chair slipped from her hands and fell backward, crashing onto the marble floor with a deafening, violent clatter.
👉 What dark secret is hiding beneath the young maid's stiff white collar?
