Chapter 36

ELOISE

The Cunninghams, including myself, gathered in the living room as part of my schedule. I thought it’d be a small group with just my dad, Davina, her obscene brother, Mr. Ross, and Nina. But to my surprise, m grandmother showed up with her two unmarried daughters, Ailisa and Rona.

Rowena Cunningham embodied refinement and strict adherence to rules, the kind my father would look up to. I could see it in how she casually shooed her son away with a hand wave. Her indifference toward Davina was clear, ignoring her daughter-in-law into an uncomfortable shadow. This was the first time I actually felt bad for her. Even I felt a surge of nerves just seeing Rowena enter through that door. I’d only seen her in the pictures Nina showed me. Thanks to her thorough lessons, I could distinguish who’s who.

A conversation started between Dad and Rowena. She seemed to carry a bit of arrogance in her demeanor. Her mannerisms and the way she dressed in an emerald velvet dress, a matching designer