Golden Cage Mommy Mutiny (Elyse) novel Chapter 35

When my sister Selina was born, she didn’t cry as every other baby did in the maternity ward.

My mom panicked and insisted something was wrong, so she brought in a pastor to “take a look.”

The pastor walked into our home and stared at me like I was the problem he’d been searching for. Claiming my “fortune” clashed with Selina’s, that I would swallow her luck and weaken her fate, he

told my parents I had to be sent away, or Selina would not live past twenty–five.

After that, my parents became obsessed with getting rid of me. I could feel it, even as a kid, so I

tried everything to please Selina just to stay.

I went into her room carrying my favorite toy. Her room was overflowing with the newest dolls,

stacked so high they filled the whole cabinet.

She smiled at me, sweet and innocent. For one stupid second, I thought she actually liked me.

I was wrong. She knocked over the blocks in front of her and burst into tears on the floor.

When my parents rushed in, they went straight to Selina. I stood there alone, and my mom’s slap hit

me full in the face. My ears rang. Blood slowly gathered at the corner of my mouth.

That was when I realized that Selina and I were never going to be “sisters” in any real sense.

After that, they sent me to live with my grandma. She raised me by herself, year after year.

Two years ago, my parents suddenly said they wanted me back. I had always craved their love, so I

agreed.

Back at my desk,.I turned on my computer and stared at draft after draft.

Selina had spent her whole childhood in dance classes, so when had she ever studied art or design?

I asked coworkers for Selina’s past submissions. A file was sent to me almost immediately. I opened it, and the more I scrolled, the colder I got.

Every design was identical to mine!

Some of them were pieces I’d designed privately, never posted, never published, never shown to

anyone. Yet they were already out in the world.

It made no sense. How could this be?

Some of those drafts had been my secret plan, the foundation pieces for my own studio someday. Nobody should have known they existed.

Chapter 2

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I deleted every draft off my computer at once. Then I forced myself to breathe and calm down. I had died once and come back; nothing could frighten me away now. There must be something off, something I had missed.

I’d trained in art since high school, graduated top of my class and gotten into a top art institute on merit, then studied jewelry design with the strongest technical foundation and the cleanest

linework.

Grounded on that, I steadied myself, forcing my mind to lock in. Whatever trick Selina was using, I would conceive a brand–new design, a total different one.

This time, I shut my computer down. I couldn’t even risk using a digital file now, terrified it would

be copied again.

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