I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, astonished. Had some servant just [i]woken me up[/i]? As a child, that had been a common occurrence, of course; Father had been in charge. But I was supposed to be the master of this house!

I sat up on my bed, and my stomach reminded me that the servant had a point. The last thing I needed was to needlessly make enemies in my own home. I would just politely ask him to wait for me to wake up in the future. That would be more than enough. But it could wait.

"Chocolate chip pancakes," I said, deciding to allow myself a bit of indulgence. After taking a quick shower, I donned some casual clothing - a lavender sundress and sandals - and shared one of my insincere smiles with the mirror. It was odd... ever since I had received my inheritance, I had felt like I looked much better! My scars were inexplicably fading, and something about my expression seemed just a smidgen more [i]genuine[/i]. I would have expected the opposite, given all the stress I had been going through. Maybe it was the necklace; the thing was quite beautiful, regardless of Mother's opinion. After a moment's reluctance to stop admiring myself, I tore my eyes away from the mirror and exited my room.

The halls were filled with landmarks, so the second trip to the kitchen took much less time than the first had. Upon arriving, I sat down at the head of the table, acutely aware of the absence of Mother and my guards. I frowned as I recalled the emails they had sent the previous day; Mother really didn't have any right to deny me my protection in my own home. I would have to speak to her about that, though I had to admit that I preferred the privacy. Perhaps I would be safe enough here. 

As I awaited my meal, I check my email using my cell phone, ignoring the second and third messages sent by some of my relatives. The school president had personally sent me homework... what an asshole! I had no intention of doing it. I no longer needed to.

Before I knew it, I found myself typing the email address that had been given to me all those years ago into my phone. Frantically, I erased it. Why was I still thinking about contacting him? Father was already dead! But...

The threat remained. That boy from the restaurant... Christian. He had to be up to something. I would hire a private investigator to learn about him. If he was up to something, he needed to be dealt with, and quickly.

The moment my food was placed before me, I stabbed my fork into it, a bit surprised by my own ferocity. It must have been born of a combination of hunger and anger at Christian. Careful to exert the proper restraint, I cut my pancakes into small pieces daintily, only eating any once the task was complete. Being in charge of the mansion would require me not to be so lax about etiquette. That, however, was the least of my worries. Between the break in, the attempts to bribe my guards, and Mother's behavior, something was definitely going on. I couldn't allow myself to become complacent.