Chapter 1: The Echo of Iron
The heavy thud of the grandmother falling backward against her wrought-iron garden chair still vibrated through the weathered floorboards of the ancestral porch. Inside the sprawling manor house, the muted sound of string quartets and polite cocktail laughter continued undisturbed, entirely insulated from the raw human fracture playing out on the front steps. Clara stood breathing heavily, her chest heaving beneath the matching cream sleeveless dress she wore, her knuckles white where she had shoved the elderly matriarch. Sylvia lay momentarily stunned against the upholstery of the tilted chair, her ornate beige gown with floral embroidery ruffling awkwardly around her knees. Her styled grey hair remained immaculate, but her cold eyes narrowed with a sudden, venomous realization.
Beside Clara, little seven-year-old Lily knelt in her cream lace dress, her small ankle still tethered to the white wooden porch railing by a thick, oxidized metal chain. The cold steel looked obscene against her pale skin. Marcus stood slightly behind them, his tall, well-built frame shifting as he stepped firmly forward. The
