Eleonora's boots sank into the thick Persian runner as she walked down the second-floor hallway, passing rows of heavy, gilded family portraits.

Alistair walked half a step behind her, his voice low as he quickly briefed her on the staff changes that had occurred during her hospitalization.

She stopped in front of a set of massive, carved double doors. It was the master bedroom-the largest room in the estate, boasting the best view of the grounds.

She wrapped her hand around the cold brass handle, pressed it down, and pushed the doors open.

The sight inside made her pupils contract sharply.

The elegant, minimalist decor she remembered had been completely eradicated. The walls were painted a nauseating shade of macaron pink.

Massive, heavily retouched photos of Addisyn wearing a ballet tutu and holding a violin covered the walls.

In the center of the room, sitting at a vanity table in front of a massive French bed, was Addisyn. Two makeup artists were hovering over her, touching up her lip gloss.

Sitting on the European-style velvet sofa across the room were two young men, both radiating wealth and privilege: Isaac Olson and Augustus Harrington.

At the sound of the heavy doors opening, all four heads turned toward the entrance.

Addisyn's eyes widened as she recognized Eleonora. The loose powder brush slipped from her fingers and hit the marble vanity with a sharp clack.

A flash of genuine panic crossed Addisyn's perfectly contoured face, but she instantly buried it beneath a mask of wide-eyed innocence. "Elly?" Augustus said, his brow furrowing as he noticed her trench coat. "What was all that noise downstairs? We heard shouting and a crash."

Eleonora stepped into the room, her face completely expressionless. Alistair stopped at the threshold, standing guard.

Eleonora's dark eyes swept over the ruined room, finally locking onto Addisyn's face.

"You have ten minutes," Eleonora said, her voice dropping the temperature in the room by ten degrees. "Get all of your trash out of my room."

Addisyn shot up from her vanity stool like a frightened deer. Her eyes instantly welled with tears, large drops pooling perfectly on her lower lashes.

She twisted the fabric of her pink dress in her hands. "I'm so sorry, sister," her voice trembled pitifully. "Dad said the lighting in here was better for my violin practice. He told me to move in..."

She emphasized the word "Dad," deliberately using Clyde's authority to press down on Eleonora. Eleonora watched the performance with cold detachment. The tears, the trembling voice... it was all exactly as her nightmare had shown, a perfectly executed script. And she knew exactly what digital tool, hidden away on Addisyn's phone, was helping her run these flawless, manipulative lines.

Isaac's eyes widened for a fraction of a second as he truly took in Eleonora's pale, thinned-out frame. A flicker of genuine shock crossed his face, a ghost of his past affection for his childhood fiancée, before it rapidly hardened into displeasure. Isaac immediately stood up from the sofa. His jaw clenched, and his eyes darkened with clear displeasure. He took three long strides and positioned himself directly in front of Addisyn, shielding her with his broad shoulders.

"Are you out of your mind?" Isaac demanded, his tone harsh and scolding. "You just got out of the hospital. Addi is exhausted from preparing for her party today."

Eleonora stared at the man who was supposed to be her childhood fiancé. Seeing him act like a guard dog for her replacement didn't break her heart; it only made her feel a deep, hollow sense of amusement.

"Who the hell are you," Eleonora shot back, her voice slicing through the air like a blade, "to lecture me inside my own house?"

Isaac choked on his next words. He stared at her in shock, unable to reconcile this freezing, ruthless woman with the quiet, compliant girl he used to know.

Augustus, who had been sitting on the sofa playing with a silver lighter, finally stood up.

He walked over on his long legs, stepping between Isaac and Eleonora, clearly intending to play the peacemaker.

He used his signature lazy, coaxing tone, the one he always used to defuse tension.

"Alright, Elly. Let's not make this ugly. We're all family. Addi didn't mean any harm."

Safely hidden behind two powerful men, Addisyn let out a soft, pathetic sob.

The fierce protection from two top-tier heirs fed Addisyn's vanity perfectly. A tiny, triumphant smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth.

Eleonora caught the micro-expression instantly. She let out a short, cold laugh and dropped her heavy canvas duffel bag. It hit the hardwood floor with a loud, final thud.

The heavy thud of the duffel bag echoed against the pink walls, shattering the brief silence in the room.

Augustus looked at the icy hostility radiating from Eleonora's eyes. A strange flicker of panic sparked in his chest. He decided to soften his approach.

He took a step forward and opened his arms, offering a warm, familiar hug to calm her down.

"Elly," Augustus said, his voice dropping an octave, dripping with manufactured tenderness. "Welcome home. We really missed you."

Eleonora watched him approach. Her mind flashed to the nightmare-the memory of Augustus standing by coldly while the internet tore her to shreds. Her stomach twisted into a tight, nauseating knot.

Just as his hands were about to brush the fabric of her trench coat, Eleonora took a sharp, massive step to the right.

Augustus grabbed nothing but empty air. His arms hung awkwardly in the space between them. The mask of tenderness on his face cracked instantly.

He stared at her in disbelief. The girl who used to follow him around, desperate for his attention, now looked at him like he was a disease.

Isaac frowned deeply, disgusted by her behavior. He thought she was being incredibly cruel, trampling all over Augustus's goodwill.

Eleonora brushed her shoulder with her hand, a physical gesture of absolute revulsion. "Stay away from me. I feel dirty."

The words hit Augustus like a physical slap across the face. The light in his eyes died, replaced by a dark, simmering anger.

He dropped his arms and shoved his hands deep into his tailored pockets. His voice turned hard. "What is your problem, Eleonora? Why are you throwing a tantrum?"

He pointed toward the hallway. "The guest rooms in the south wing are empty. You need rest. Go sleep there tonight so we don't ruin the party."

Addisyn peeked out from behind Isaac, her voice small and sweet. "Yes, sister. The guest rooms are very quiet. I promise I'll move out of the master bedroom tomorrow."

Eleonora let out a sharp, mocking laugh. The sound was entirely devoid of humor; it was pure, concentrated ridicule.

She locked her piercing gaze onto Augustus, looking at him as if he were completely brain-dead. "You want me, the only legal heir to the Carlisle family, to sleep in a guest room?"

She raised a finger and pointed it straight at Addisyn. "And leave the master bedroom to a parasite with no blood ties and no legal adoption papers?"

The word "parasite" hit Addisyn like a bullet. All the color drained from her face, and fat tears began to roll rapidly down her cheeks.

Isaac took an angry step forward. "Your words are disgusting, Eleonora. You have absolutely no class."

Eleonora didn't flinch. She met Isaac's furious glare head-on. "Class is reserved for human beings. Not for thieves who steal other people's property."

Augustus tried to use logic to crush her rebellion. "This house is legally under your father's name. Clyde has the right to decide who sleeps in which room."

Eleonora looked at Augustus with deep pity. "It seems your pre-law classes at the Ivy League were a complete waste of money."

She reached into the deep pocket of her trench coat, pulled out a neatly folded legal document, and whipped it directly at Augustus's chest.

The papers hit him with a sharp smack and fluttered open. Augustus instinctively caught the top page and glanced down.

His pupils contracted violently.

The document clearly stated that the entire estate was held in an irrevocable trust established by the late Eleonora Sr.

And upon turning eighteen, Eleonora had automatically assumed absolute, unchallengeable ownership of the property.

"Clyde only has residency rights," Eleonora stated, her voice ringing with absolute authority. "I am the sole owner of this estate."

Augustus's hand trembled slightly as he gripped the paper. His arrogant logic and biased defense were instantly pulverized by hard legal proof.

Isaac saw the look of defeat on Augustus's face and realized immediately that they had lost. His aggressive posture deflated.

Eleonora crossed her arms over her chest, delivering her final verdict. "Now. Get the hell out of my room."

A suffocating silence filled the room. The only sound was Addisyn's quiet, pathetic sniffling.

Augustus shoved the legal document into Isaac's chest. He took a heavy step backward, his face dark with humiliation. He completely abandoned the argument over the room.

But Eleonora wasn't finished.

She took two aggressive steps forward, closing the distance and standing directly in front of Addisyn.

The sheer force of Eleonora's presence made it hard for Addisyn to breathe. Addisyn instinctively tried to back away, but her hips hit the hard edge of the marble vanity. She was trapped.

Eleonora leaned in slightly. Her eyes bypassed Addisyn's crying face and locked onto her long, pale neck.

Resting against Addisyn's collarbone, clashing horribly with the cheap pink fabric of her dress, was a massive, flawless sapphire and diamond necklace.

Eleonora's blood ran ice cold. It was the "Eye of the Deep," her late mother's most cherished piece of jewelry.

She shot her hand forward and grabbed the heavy sapphire pendant. She pulled it sharply toward her. The thick diamond chain dug into the back of Addisyn's neck, leaving a harsh red line on her skin.

Addisyn shrieked in pain. Her hands flew up to grab her throat, her tears flowing freely now. "Sister, what are you doing! You're hurting me!"

Isaac's muscles tensed, ready to intervene again, but Eleonora shot him a glare so lethal it nailed his feet to the floor.

Eleonora ignored Addisyn's screams. "Who gave you permission to touch my mother's things?" she demanded, her voice a deadly whisper.

Addisyn stammered, her chest heaving in panic. "D-Dad! Clyde said it looked pretty with my dress! He let me borrow it for tonight!"

Eleonora let out a harsh scoff. "Clyde? What gives him the right to lend out things he doesn't own?"

She slowly turned her head to look at Augustus and Isaac, her eyes burning with contempt. "Tell me, you two Ivy League scholars. What is the charge in the New York State Penal Code for taking and wearing high-value property without the owner's consent?"

Augustus's face turned an ugly shade of gray. He knew exactly what it was. It was Grand Larceny in the third degree.

Eleonora stepped closer, her voice relentless. "You stood there and defended her. Is this what your elite families taught you? How to harbor and protect a common thief?"

The word "thief" struck like a hammer. It shattered the delicate, innocent socialite persona Addisyn had spent months building.

Isaac's face went pale. He felt physically sick at the thought that the pure, sweet girl he had been protecting was being branded a criminal.

Addisyn realized instantly that if she left this room with the label of a thief, her reputation in high society would be permanently destroyed.

Survival instinct kicked in. She abandoned her victim act and desperately reached behind her neck, her fingers fumbling blindly with the intricate clasp.

She was shaking so hard that her manicured nails scratched her own skin, drawing tiny beads of blood.

The clasp finally gave way. The heavy sapphire necklace slid off her neck and dropped into Eleonora's waiting palm.

Addisyn clutched her bleeding neck, crying hysterically. She looked at Isaac, her eyes begging for sympathy and rescue, desperately trying to salvage her image.

But Isaac wouldn't meet her eyes. He stared at the necklace in Eleonora's hand, a dark seed of doubt finally taking root in his mind.

Eleonora reached into her pocket and pulled out a sterile alcohol wipe. Right in front of their faces, she began to meticulously scrub the sapphire and the diamonds.

She rubbed the metal with intense focus, as if the necklace had been contaminated by a deadly virus. The silent, physical gesture was infinitely more humiliating than a slap to the face.

Addisyn watched her scrub the jewels. The humiliation burned like acid in her chest. She dug her fingernails so hard into her palms that they nearly broke the skin.

Eleonora dropped the clean necklace into her coat pocket. She tossed the dirty wipe perfectly into the small trash can by the vanity.

She looked up, her gaze sweeping over the three of them. "The room. The jewelry. If there is anything else you stole, I suggest you hand it over now."

Augustus took a deep, shaky breath. He realized with absolute clarity that in this room, Eleonora had stripped them of every legal and moral defense they had.