Mother Knows Best  

"You listen to me, Ling'er," Lady Zhao whispered, cupping her daughter's chin with fingers tipped in pearl-pink lacquer. "There is no world in which that cursed girl walks away with your future. Do you understand me? I will not accept it."

 

Zhao Meiling didn't blink as her mother bore down on her. She didn't nod, she didn't so much as twitch. She simply made sure that her shoulders were back, her posture perfect, and said, "Of course. I've always known the title was mine."

 

Lady Zhao smiled, something maternal and monstrous blooming behind her eyes. "Good girl. That's the way that you make your mother proud."