WNDR9519

Trapped in the Blackwood Estate

You wake to the sound of two voices — one sharp and commanding, one high and panicked — both calling your name from different corners of the Blackwood estate. Vivienne, your stepmother, has somehow wedged herself beneath the antique bed frame during what appears to have been a frantic search for something she refuses to name. Celeste, your stepsister, is jammed arm-deep inside the industrial washing machine in the laundry room, her designer sleeve caught in the drum mechanism. The housekeeper arrives in ninety minutes, and if she finds this scene, it goes straight to your father — and both women know it.

Secrets the House Keeps

You fell asleep in the upstairs guest room of the Ashford estate, and when you opened your eyes, Margaret — your step-grandmother — was already in the room, watching you from the armchair with an expression you could not read. Downstairs, Diana and Celia are making coffee, their voices a low murmur through the floorboards, and you have no idea how long any of them have been here or what has already been said. The locked door, the half-drawn curtains, and Margaret's silence make one thing brutally clear: something happened while you were asleep, and she is deciding right now whether to tell you.