Golden Cage Mommy Mutiny (Elyse) novel Chapter 50

Kira showed up unannounced just as I was adjusting the collar on Dylan’s shirt for a photoshoot.

Her heels stabbed against the studio floor, each ste a sharp, grating click that announced trouble before she even spoke.

She had long since ditched the glasses and the rural awkwardness, now dressed with deliberate polish, though as a photographer I immediately saw the exhaustion buried under her heavy

foundation.

Her eyes dropped to the button I was fastening on Dylan, completely misreading the scene.

“So this is the boy toy you’ve picked up?” she scoffel. “One guy on your leash isn’t enough–you still want someone else’s husband?”

I didn’t even have a chance to answer before Dylan‘ expression iced over. He snapped at her to watch her mouth, and when he half rose to confront her, I pushed him gently back into the chair- his role for today was cold, restrained, and brooding, and this anger suited the camera too well.

I lifted my camera and shot frame after frame, my finger never leaving the shutter.

Being ignored only made Kira angrier; she grabbed the camera from my hands and smashed it onto the floor, shattering the lens into glittering shards.

I crouched down to check the camera body and said evenly, “It’s totaled. I’ll send you the invoice- full replacement cost, plus a week of lost work.”

Kira let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

“Who do you think you’re talking to? Ethan gives me his whole paycheck. How pricey can this piece of junk be?”

“Twenty–eight thousand,” I replied. “I’ll text you the account number.”

Kira’s eyes bulged. “What, are you insane? You’re shaking me down! I’m paying five grand at

most!”

I didn’t bother arguing–just reached for my phone

Her face drained. She lunged to stop me.

“Fine! Just–fine. Give me the damn invoice. I’ll transfer it within a week.”

A week later, the payment came.

So did a message:

[Take this as a tip. Stay away from Ethan. Otherwise your little ‘model‘ and your dirty laundry will

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be all over the trending page tomorrow morning.]

Dylan was still in school, barely breaking into modeling. I wasn’t about to hand Kira ammunition against him.

So I called the unfamiliar number.

When Ethan arrived at my studio, he held a small paper bag pressed to his chest the same way he used to in college.

He unwrapped it carefully–fresh chocolate–chip cookies, still warm enough to steam.

“Picked them up on the way,” he said. “See if they still taste like you remember.”

On the way? His station was in the south; that restaurant was in the north.

I took a bite. The taste was nothing like before.

Maybe the food changed.

Maybe I did.

I set the rest outside for the stray cat by the door.

Ethan watched me crouch to pet it and said softly, “You’re still the same. Still gentle. You used to

feed all the strays back on campus.”

I didn’t respond.

He kept going anyway.

“Every weekend you’d drag me to the curb to sketch cats and dogs for hours. I still remember the sunburns. So… why’d you switch careers?”

My hand paused over the kitten’s fur.

“Brain damage,” I said quietly. “I forgot how to draw.”

Ethan went silent–for a long, long time.

When the kitten finished eating and curled up in a patch of sun, he finally spoke in a raw whisper.

“This is my fault. All of it. Now you’ve lost your father… and the thing you loved most, Chloe… can I still stay in your life the way I used to?”

Chapter 7