Chapter 101

Miranda’s POV

As I stepped into my room, I slammed the door behind me, letting out a frustrated sigh. My hands trembled with a mix of anger and adrenaline after the heated encounter with Mara and her wretched mother. My stepmother’s words still echoed in my ears, laced with venom and the audacity to threaten me in my own home.

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing the room like a caged lioness. My room, though modest, had become my sanctuary. Its warm, earthy tones and the faint scent of lavender candles I’d lit earlier offered me a shred of solace in a house that was anything but. But even here, I couldn’t shake off the suffocating tension that filled the mansion.

Sitting down at my desk, I powered on my laptop. The faint hum of the machine was oddly soothing. Little did Mara or her mother know, I had installed hidden cameras in their room months ago. It wasn’t paranoia—no, it was survival. The cameras gave me eyes and ears on the people who wanted me gone.