Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Controlled the House
Everett’s mother, Lenora Calloway, had lived in the mansion since her son became a widower.
She was elegant, organized, and intensely protective of the Calloway name.
Nothing escaped her attention.
If a glass was placed on the wrong shelf, Lenora noticed.
If dinner was served three minutes late, she noticed.
If Maribel bought a slightly different brand of tea, she noticed that too.
She rarely raised her voice. She did not need to.
Her disapproval usually arrived in a quiet sentence.
“People should remember their place.”
Maribel had heard variations of that sentence many times.
She never argued.
She needed the job, and more importantly, she cared about Owen.
Still, she always sensed that Lenora saw her differently from the other employees.
To Lenora, Maribel was useful, but never truly part of the household.
That became painfully clear on a rainy Thursday afternoon.
Lenora had invited several longtime family friends for lunch. Before they arrived, she opened a small antique case containing an emerald-and-diamond brooch that had belonged to Everett’s great-grandmother.
It was considered one of the Calloway family’s most treasured possessions.
Lenora wore it during lunch.
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After the guests left, she removed it upstairs.
By evening, the brooch was gone.
