Golden Cage Mommy Mutiny (Elyse) novel Chapter 41

Chapter 8

Actually, there was no camera. I was bluffing.

I let out a short, humorless laugh and walked right up to her. Then I grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back.

Her eyes went wide with fear. “Ah! What are you doing?!”

I slapped her hard enough that the sound cracked through the living room. “Next time you try something that pathetic, use your brain first.”

The whole mess killed my appetite. I went upstairs and left them to their little circus.

On competition day, my parents went to the venue together to support Selina. What a perfect

chance.

I searched room by room, slow and thorough, until only one was left.

Selina’s bedroom.

I pushed the door open. It was meticulously decorated. I raised the snake bracelet and scanned every corner. Nothing happened until I stopped in front of a painting.

The bracelet heated against my wrist, suddenly alive. The snake’s eyes turned red.

The painting looked harmless, just a simple floral piece. The shrine had to be behind the canvas.

I took it off the wall. Behind it, the drywall was carved in, a hidden recess. But,my heart dropped at

the sight.

No idol! Only a dead bird, leaking black haze like smoke.

Apparently, I had been exposed.

At the venue, backstage, Selina unzipped her bag. Inside was the idol. A sinister grin emerged on

her face.

The night before, the “god” had warned her I’d discovered the idol’s existence, so she’d kept it with

her.

I forced myself to calm down, to think over.

If she wanted it safe, where would she hide the statue?

Nothing was safer than having it on her, where she ould watch it.

So I grabbed my phone and ordered a car to the venue right away.

The competition was about to start. I slipped into the backstage area disguised as staff and found

Chapter 8

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the lounge. Selina’s backpack was sitting

was sitting on the sofa.