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Rumors

Author: Jenne Lopes
last update Last Updated: 2025-01-16 21:27:41

Maya's POV

I'd been staring at my phone since dawn, refreshing the page where the article had been. Now it was gone, like it never existed. If only rumors disappeared that easily.

My blouse hung perfectly pressed on the doorframe, exactly as I'd left it last night. Simple, elegant, armor for my first day. In the mirror, I looked different somehow. Maybe it was the way I held myself now, or maybe just the light.

"Early start?"

Martha stood in the doorway with coffee. She'd been the mansion's housekeeper longer than I'd been alive, and nothing got past her.

"First day," I said, taking the cup. The warmth helped steady my hands.

She clicked her tongue, reaching over to fix my collar. "Don't let them see you flinch."

I smiled, as her simple words helped reinforce my confidence.

The drive to Thorne Designs was too short and too long. I rehearsed my face in the rearview mirror - professional, calm, unbothered. The article might be gone, but people's memories weren't.

The lobby looked the sa
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