The Art of Scrutiny

Vivienne’s POV

The moment my mother stepped into the house, the air changed. I felt it, not just around me, but inside me. Like my lungs remembered what it meant to shrink. Like my spine instinctively straightened of its own accord.

“Vivienne,” she greeted, crisp and clipped, every syllable polished.

She glided forward in those kitten heels she always wore; elegant, silent, somehow more threatenin