WARNING: This story is really dark and pretty horrible in many ways. It contains dubious consent/blackmail, interracial themes, humiliation, verbal degradation, cheating, rough sex, and extreme psychological manipulation. It also features themes of bullying and parental betrayal. All characters depicted are 18 years of age or older. This content may be deeply disturbing to some readers and is intended for mature audiences only. I really wrote this as a pure exercise and did not intend to post it. But just putting it up in case anyone else enjoys these sort of things...
--- You have been warned! ---
The oven timer dings just as I'm piping the last rosette of buttercream onto my lavender-infused French macarons. Perfect timing. These finicky little bastards better be worth the three hours I've spent on them. The spring open house at Wildwood Estates doesn't technically require homemade refreshments, but Stephanie from Coldwell Banker brought those pretentious cake pops to the last one, and I refuse to be outdone.
"No, Jennifer, you absolutely cannot use gray paint in the dining room of a Tudor," I say into my AirPod, balancing my phone between my shoulder and ear as I slide the parchment paper of completed macarons onto the granite counter. "I don't care what your client saw on HGTV. It's a 1920s restoration with original moldings. You'll tank the value with that contemporary bullshit."
I adjust my Lululemon Define jacket, which is struggling to contain my tits even though it's a size up from what I'd normally wear. The zipper digs into my cleavage, leaving a little red line I'll have to cover with concealer before the open house. My post-yoga body is still cooling down, little beads of sweat gathering at my temples despite the headband.
"Listen, put them in touch with my guy at Benjamin Moore. He'll set them straight with a historically appropriate palette that won't send potential buyers running." I pause, eyeing my creation. The macarons are the precise shade of lavender that matches the accent pillows I've staged in the living room of the $1.2 million property I'm showing tomorrow. "Trust me, Jen, colors sell houses. You want that commission or not?"
The front door slams, and I glance at the Wolf clock on the wall. 3:47. Tyler's home early.
"Gotta go, Jen. My son just got home. Check your inbox—I sent you that contact." I tap my AirPod twice to end the call just as Tyler tries to dart past the kitchen toward the stairs.
"Hey honey! You're home—" My voice cuts off when he turns slightly, keeping his face angled away from me. Mother's intuition kicks in immediately. "Tyler. Look at me."
He hesitates, shoulders hunched in his navy blue Winchester Prep windbreaker. When he finally turns, my stomach clenches like I've been punched. His left eye is swollen, the skin around it already darkening into what will be a spectacular bruise by tomorrow. There's a small cut on his cheekbone that's crusted with dried blood.
"Oh my God," I whisper, abandoning my baking masterpiece and rushing to him. He flinches when I reach for his face—actually flinches away from his own mother. "Who did this to you?"
"It's nothing, Mom. I just... I fell during gym." His eyes drop to the floor.
"Bullshit." The word snaps out of me before I can stop it. "You don't get a black eye from falling. Who hit you?"
Tyler's eyes well with tears, and my heart breaks for my baby even as rage begins to simmer beneath my skin. He's too sensitive for this cruel world, just like I was. Mark keeps saying he needs to toughen up, but what does he know? He's barely home three days a week.
"Nobody. It's fine. Please don't make a big deal—"
"Here," I interrupt, grabbing a macaron from the tray and holding it out. "These have twenty-four steps and took me all afternoon. Tell me who did this to you, or I'll call Principal Edwards right now and make such a scene they'll name the detention hall after me."
Tyler takes the macaron but doesn't eat it. His hand trembles slightly, the purple confection looking absurdly delicate in his palm. "It was Cyrus," he finally mumbles. "Cyrus Jackson."
The name hits me like ice water. I've heard it before, in hushed conversations with other mothers. The troublemaker.
"Did you tell a teacher?" My voice rises an octave.
Tyler's face crumples. "Mom, please. You'll just make it worse. He said... he said if I told anyone, next time would be much worse."
I grab my phone from the counter, ignoring the smear of purple buttercream my fingertip leaves on the screen. "I'm calling Jessica right now."
"Who?"
"Tiffany Miller's mom. She's on the school board. She'll know where this little thug lives."
"Mom, no!" Tyler's voice cracks with panic, but I'm already typing.
*Jessica, it's Karen. Need Cyrus Jackson's address ASAP. Emergency situation. He assaulted Tyler today.*
"Mom, seriously, please don't do this." Tyler's voice is desperate now.
I put my phone down long enough to look my son directly in the eyes—well, eye, since the other is rapidly swelling shut. "Listen to me, Tyler James Thompson. No one, and I mean no one, puts their hands on my child and gets away with it. Not while I have breath in my body."
My phone pings with Jessica's response. She's included not only the address but a note that Cyrus has been in trouble repeatedly, that the administration's hands are tied because of his "difficult home situation," whatever that means.
"I'll handle this," I say, already walking to grab my Louis Vuitton tote from the entryway bench. "Put some ice on that eye. Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off."
"Mom, you can't go to his house!"
I spin around, one hand on my hip. "I sell multi-million dollar properties to celebrities and CEOs. You think I'm afraid of some teenage boy?"
"He's—"
"Tyler, enough." I soften my tone, reaching out to gently touch his uninjured cheek. "This is what mothers do. We protect our children. Now go ice that eye while I go have a word with this boy's parents about raising a child who thinks it's acceptable to bully others."
I check my appearance in the entryway mirror, fluffing my red bob and reapplying my MAC Russian Red lipstick. My yoga outfit is probably a bit much for a confrontation—the Lululemon leggings hug every curve of my ass and thighs like they're painted on—but I'm not taking the time to change. Sometimes the soccer mom look is exactly what you need to remind people you're a force to be reckoned with.
"Mom, please," Tyler tries one last time as I grab my car keys.
"Not another word. I'll be back in an hour."
"His parents won't care. They're not even—"
"I said not another word." I blow him a kiss and stride out to my immaculately clean white Nissan Rogue, sliding into the driver's seat with the kind of determination that's sold over thirty houses this quarter alone.
The GPS directs me to Lakeside Heights, a neighborhood I've driven clients past but never through. "Not a good investment at this time," is my standard line. "The area is still... transitioning."
As I drive, the pristine landscaping of Winchester Heights gives way to patchy lawns and houses that desperately need a power wash and fresh paint. My realtor brain automatically calculates the drop in property values with each block—$50k less here, $100k less there. I pass a corner store with a group of young men loitering outside, their eyes following my car as I drive by.
The apartment complex I'm looking for appears on my right, a faded three-story brick building with rusting iron balconies and window air conditioning units dripping condensation onto the sidewalk below. Cars are parked haphazardly on the street—late model Chargers with tinted windows, an old Cadillac on blocks, economy sedans that have seen better days. No designated parking spaces, no landscaping to speak of. The grass is more dirt than green.
I park directly in front of the building, making sure my car is in full view of the street. I may be angry, but I'm not stupid. I toss my phone into my bag and stride toward the entrance, stepping carefully around a broken beer bottle on the concrete.
The security door is propped open with a brick, the intercom system clearly non-functional. The hallway smells like weed, Fabuloso cleaner, and something fried. Bass-heavy music thumps from behind one of the doors, and I catch snippets of a heated argument from another.
Apartment 2C, according to Jessica's text.
I climb the stairs, my designer sneakers making little sound on the dirty steps. My heart is pounding, but not from the climb. I'm furious—at this Cyrus kid, at his parents, at a school system that allows thugs to terrorize kids like Tyler. By the time I reach 2C, my adrenaline is pumping so hard I can feel my pulse in my temples.
I straighten my shoulders, adjust my sports bra to make sure my cleavage isn't too obscene, and knock on the door with three sharp raps.
"Time to teach this kid a lesson in respect," I mutter under my breath, preparing the verbal lashing I'm about to deliver to whatever neglectful parents raised a child who thinks it's okay to hit my son.
The heavy bass of hip-hop music thumps from behind the door. I wait five seconds, then knock again, harder this time.
The music volume drops, and I hear heavy footsteps approaching. The lock clicks, and the door swings open.
I'm ready for a parent—a tired mother in house clothes, perhaps, or a disinterested father. What I'm not prepared for is the massive young man who fills the doorframe, looking down at me with dark, suspicious eyes.
He's shirtless, wearing only basketball shorts that hang low on narrow hips, revealing a chiseled V-line that disappears beneath the fabric. His chest and shoulders are corded with muscle, a large tattoo reading "LOYALTY" emblazoned across his pectorals.
The door swings open wider as he steps back, one arm braced against the frame. His eyes travel slowly down my body, lingering on my chest before lazily returning to my face. The corner of his mouth twitches upward.
"Can I help you with something?" His voice is deep, almost adult-sounding, with a casual confidence that immediately sets my teeth on edge.
I clear my throat, suddenly aware of how my heart is hammering. "I'm looking for Cyrus Jackson's parents. Are they home?"
He lets out a low chuckle that makes the hair on my arms stand up. "You're looking at him. I'm Cyrus."