Mariana's POV.
Without saying a word, I reached for one of the remaining intact blankets from their fort. Summer's eyes narrowed as she watched me, clearly suspicious.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her tone cautious.
I didn't answer. Instead, I yanked the blanket, sending another section of their fort tumbling to the ground. The kids gasped in unison, and Summer's jaw dropped.
"Hey! That took forever to build!" she protested, lunging for the blanket.
I stepped back, holding it out of her reach. "Well, if we're embracing chaos, I might as well join in, right?" I said, a sly smile spreading across my face.
One of the kids giggled nervously. "Uh-oh, Summer. She's going rogue."
Summer glared at me, then grabbed a pillow. "Oh, you're asking for it now, you bitch."
Before I could react, she launched the pillow straight at my face. It hit me with a soft thud, and I froze for a second, processing what had just happened.
"Did you just—"
"Yes, I did," she said smugly, grabbing another pillow. "What are you gonna do about it?"
Challenge accepted.
I dropped the blanket and dove for a nearby cushion, hurling it at her with all the precision I could muster. It hit her squarely in the chest, and the kids erupted into laughter.
What followed was absolute mayhem. Pillows flew across the room like missiles, laughter echoing off the walls as the kids joined in the chaos. I ducked behind the couch for cover, narrowly avoiding a flying cushion aimed at my head.
"You'll never win!" Summer shouted from behind an overturned chair she'd claimed as her base.
"Oh, you're so wrong," I shot back, grabbing two pillows and charging toward her.
The kids cheered, some taking my side, others rallying around Summer. It was complete and utter madness, but for the first time all day, I didn't feel annoyed or stressed. I felt… free.
Eventually, we all collapsed in a heap on the floor, breathless from laughter and exhaustion. The living room was a disaster—pillows, blankets, and balloons were scattered everywhere, and the remains of their chocolate stash were smeared on the furniture.
Summer turned to me, still catching her breath. "Okay, I'll admit it. That was fun. But you're cleaning this up, Mariah."
I snorted. "Oh, no. This was your mess, to begin with."
"Technically," one of the kids chimed in, "it's everyone's mess now."
Summer grinned at me, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "See? Majority rules. You're part of the chaos now, Mariah."
I groaned, but a smile tugged at my lips despite myself. "Fine. But you're not getting out of it either."
As we started tidying up, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Aiden:
"How's your day going, love? Everything under control?"
I stared at the message for a moment, then glanced around the chaotic room. Summer was helping a kid stack the pillows into a lopsided tower, and the others were trying to untangle the blankets.
Smiling to myself, I typed back:
"Define 'under control.'"
—
"Your sister decided to turn the living room into a war zone while I was asleep," I said, brushing my hair while glancing at myself in the mirror.
Aiden chuckled softly. "That sounds like Summer. Do you need me to come home and handle it?"
"No," I replied quickly. "I've got it under control. We cleaned up the mess half an hour ago."
"We?" He asked, his voice carrying a note of confusion.
"Yes, 'we'— me, Summer, and your younger cousins. It's funny how I didn't see any of the house help around until we were done cleaning up the mess." I said, with a light chuckle.
" Younger cousins?" Aiden asked, his voice even more confused and getting cold and annoyed. " What younger cousins are you talking about?"
I dropped the brush, picked up my phone, removed it from the speaker, and placed it in my ear. My body teasing up. "You don't have any younger cousins?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm but it cracked at the end of the question.
He stayed silent for what seemed like five minutes but it was just five seconds. "No." He said bluntly, and the one syllable sent a cold chill down my spine.
I felt the blood drain from my face. "Are you sure? She introduced them as your family."
I immediately started cursing myself, adrenaline fuming my system. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.
"Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?" He asked, his voice filled with concern. "I'm on my way home."
"No, wait!" I exclaimed, gripping the phone tightly. "Didn't you say you had a meeting in thirty minutes? You don't need to rush home. I'll handle this, and we can talk later. I'm fine, Aiden."
He hesitated, but I quickly ended the call before he could argue further. My heart pounded as I rushed out of the room, a thousand thoughts swirling in my mind and speaking curses at myself.
I found Summer in the kitchen, leaning casually against the counter with a glass of juice in her hand. She looked up at me and smirked.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she said, her tone dripping with mockery.
"Who were those kids, Summer?" I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended.
She raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. "What kids?"
"The ones who trashed the living room and claimed to be Aiden's cousins!" I snapped. "Who are they, and why did you lie?"
Summer shrugged, her smug smile never faltering. "Relax, Mariah. They're just friends of mine. No big deal."
"You don't have friends, the only friend you have is Amira," I said, looking at her intensely.
She jumped up from the couch in defense, "I do have friends." Her eyes flickered with uncertainty.
I scoffed and relaxed a bit. "Yeah, sure you do," I said incredulously. "You brought strangers into our house and lied about who they were! Do you have any idea how reckless that is?"
Her smirk disappeared, replaced by a scowl. "Oh, give it a rest, Mariah. You're not the queen of this house, no matter how much you like to pretend you are. And just so you know, it's not your house, it's my brother's and if you don't like it, you can get the hell out!"
I opened my mouth to retort, but the sound of the front door opening stopped me. Aiden's voice called out from the foyer.
"Mariah? Summer? What's going on?"