Estella stood in the doorway of Chloe's apartment, dressed in a navy blue suit that Chloe had lent her. It was a little tight in the shoulders, but it made her look professional. Capable. She had her portfolio in one hand and her purse in the other.
"You're going to crush it," Chloe said, handing her a travel mug of coffee. "Just remember: you're not asking for the job, you're gracing them with your presence."
Estella smiled, reaching for the doorknob.
The door flew open from the outside.
Brenda Lowe stood in the hallway, her face twisted in fury. She shoved her way into the apartment, her eyes blazing.
"I've been calling you for thirty-six hours straight!" Brenda snapped, jabbing a finger in Estella's face. "You thought you could hide here? Where do you think you're going dressed like that?" Her eyes scanned the suit, the portfolio. "To an interview?"
"It's an Estate Manager position," Estella said, her voice calm despite the adrenaline spiking in her veins. "And it's none of your business."
"It is my business!" Brenda shrieked. "You are a Lowe! You don't work as a servant! You're doing this to embarrass us, aren't you? To get back at Jana."
"I'm doing this to eat, Mother," Estella said, trying to step around her. "Move."
Brenda blocked her path, her face red. "I won't let you ruin this family's reputation. The circles we run in are small, Estella! If word gets out that my daughter is scrubbing floors-"
"She won't," Chloe interjected, stepping up beside Estella. "Because Estella is going to be managing a thirty-person staff for a billionaire family. Which is more than you've ever managed, Brenda."
Brenda's head snapped toward Chloe, her eyes narrowing. "This is a family matter, Chloe. Butt out."
"Anything you say in my apartment is my business," Chloe shot back.
Brenda ignored her, turning back to Estella. She switched tactics, her expression shifting from rage to a calculated guilt. "Estella, please. Think of your father. He would be spinning in his grave if he saw you like this. A Lowe, working for wages. It's degrading."
Estella paused. The mention of her father always hurt. But this time, the pain was different. It wasn't a wound; it was a reminder.
"My father worked his whole life to provide for his family," Estella said, her voice low and dangerous. "He would respect me for standing on my own two feet. He wouldn't respect a woman who sold her daughter to a loveless marriage."
Brenda flinched, but she quickly recovered. "You are making a mistake. If you walk out that door, you are dead to this family. I will put a notice in the Times. I will disown you."
She said it like it was a death sentence. Like being cast out of the Lowe family was the worst thing that could happen to a person.
Estella looked at her mother. She saw the fear behind the anger. Brenda wasn't afraid of losing a daughter; she was afraid of losing control.
A laugh bubbled up in Estella's throat. It was a genuine laugh, light and free.
"Okay," Estella said.
Brenda blinked. "What?"
"I said, okay," Estella repeated, a smile spreading across her face. "Disown me. Put it in the paper. I don't care."
Brenda stared at her, completely thrown off balance. "You... you can't mean that."
"I've never meant anything more," Estella said. She stepped forward, and for the first time in her life, Brenda took a step back. "You think your name is a shield, Brenda? It's a cage. And I'm done living in it."
She walked past her mother, not even brushing her shoulder. She opened the apartment door and stepped into the hallway.
"You'll regret this!" Brenda called after her, her voice high and panicked. "You'll come crawling back!"
Estella didn't turn around. She walked down the stairs and out into the bright New York morning. She hailed a cab, throwing her portfolio onto the back seat.
She leaned out the window, looking back at Chloe, who was standing on the curb, pumping her fist in the air.
"Greenwich to Westchester," Estella told the driver. "The Winters Estate."
As the cab pulled away, Estella settled into the seat. She felt lighter. The invisible ropes that had been tying her down for thirty years had snapped. She was free.
