The Invisible Cage

Vivienne’s POV

After a stiff kiss on my mother’s cheek, one of those ceremonial goodbyes we performed more out of habit than warmth, I gave her the obligatory, “I’ll visit soon.” A lie we both knew tasted like rust on my tongue. She nodded as if satisfied, then disappeared into the car, leaving me standing in the marble foyer like a ghost in my own house.

I took the stairs two at a time, not out o