Chapter 2 - THORNFIELD COURT AND THE SPARE KEY
The move to Thornfield Court was Corey’s attempt to pacify his mother, a decision that brought them four blocks away from us. I remember standing in the middle of our new living room, feeling the heavy, suffocating weight of Lorraine’s proximity. She had demanded a spare key under the guise of "emergency access," and Corey, in his typical weak-willed fashion, had handed it over without even consulting me.
Within a week, the house no longer felt like mine. I’d come home from twelve-hour shifts at the hospital to find the furniture moved, the pictures on the wall realigned to her specifications, and the pantry purged of my preferred groceries. When I tried to push back, she simply laughed, dismissively labeling me as "unstable" or "dramatic" in front of Corey. The move to Thornfield Court hadn't been a fresh start; it had been a surrender, and I was the only person who realized it.
