Typical Morning

"Honey, good morning." A woman came, greeting her with a smile. 

A sophisticated woman in her early 40s with a good posture and a slim body. Long curly blonde hair complimented her deep ocean blue rounded eyes. 

Eleni Payne, the wife of the head of the Payne family, was a former singer and actress in her teenage years. 

She married Alexus Payne in her early 20's when their parents arranged for their marriage. However, Eleni fell in love at first sight with his masculinity. 

So she agreed to the arrangement and had their oldest daughter after a year of marriage. 

She glanced at her mother and calmly greeted, "good morning mother." 

Eleni bitterly chuckled at her daughter's coldness. It broke her heart when her lively daughter no longer existed. 

Her husband trained Camrynne to the point it changed her personality by manipulating harsh punishment in her childhood. 

'My husband's tough love affected my daughter's behavior but I couldn't do anything but watch her suffer.' She thought to herself. 

"Good everyone! Especially my sis!" A young man exclaimed while hugging his favorite sister from behind. 

Camrynne grinned and gave a peck on his cheeks before ruffling his hair. Blood rushed through his cheeks forming into a blush and an imaginary tail wiggling like a cute puppy. 

"Good morning, Carry." She greeted him with a smile. 

Carter Payne was the youngest son of the Payne Family. A college student at the same university as Camrynne and a lively person inside. 

For some unknown reason, he was neglected by their father. 

He was precious to be treated invincibly so his sister and his mother gave him the love he needed. However, Camrynne didn't know his true feelings about the treatment of their father since he wasn't saying a word. 

"Do you have class, sis?" he asked as he crouched beside his older sister. 

"I have... afternoon class since my professor canceled the class this morning." She mumbled a lie through her nostrils. 

From her schedule, she compressed the time for three days to have two days off in class on the weekdays. 

The maid served the food for Carter but his sister stopped her with a smile on her lips. Then, she placed the napkin above his lap and served the food to her brother. 

"You really spoil your brother, Rynne." Their mother said while watching her children, who were lovingly spending time with each other. 

"Well, that bastard made my baby brother miserable. Didn't even recognize the intelligence and even the elegance of my brother. Also, mother… you are secretly spoiling Carter." She said to her mother, who had her eyes widened and tried to keep it cool.

As long as the head of the family wasn't around, they could fool around. "Rynne… it's a foul!" 

She just smiled when her mother was stunned by her statement. Even though Alexus was harsh to his son, they were spoiling him very much and gave everything to him. 

"Well mom was scared of dad but when he wasn't around, she was spoiling me a lot," Carter uttered and teased their mother even more. 

"Carter! It was only a secret… Anyway, you can't just call me mom when your father is around, understand me?" 

"Of cou—" he cut off when Camrynne butt in, "mother, that bastard is nothing but a bastard so make him do what he wants."

She slammed the table as she stood and exclaimed, "Camrynne! Watch your words or else your father might hear you! You know what he is capable of." 

"I don't care anymore… Carry, eat up, okay? I'll pick you up after class so we could have a fun time while our father was busy on business." She said,

"Okay! Okay!" he exclaimed and ate all his food while Camrynne didn't have any appetite to eat her breakfast. 

She glanced at the wristwatch and it was time for her to leave in suffocating place to visit another museum. 

So Camrynne stood up and placed the napkin beside the plate but before she could leave, her mother called her. 

"Aren't you going to finish your food? You'll get hungry in your class if your stomach is empty." 

"I don't have an appetite since you spoiled my food by mentioning your husband." She uttered disrespectfully towards her father. 

"Camrynne!" her mother exclaimed yet she ignored it and walked outside the mansion. 

The maid, Ivy, gave her handbag and another coat around her shoulder. The weather slowly changed into a cold breeze because of the winter. 

"Thank you, Ivy. Tell the driver that I'll be the one driving today. Just prepare for my Aus."

"Yes, Miss Camrynne." 

Ivy left her behind and called the driver to get the car ready, specifically the Aston Martin, her favorite car since it was given by her grandfather, who adored her so much.  

"Miss Camrynne, here is the key to your car. Are you sure you didn't want me to drive you off?" The driver asked, 

She shook her head as an answer and grabbed the key to him. "You know that I couldn't let anyone touch Aus, right?"

"Y-yes, Miss Camrynne."

"So it's fine." She replied before stepping inside the car, started the engine and drove to her destination. 

As she was driving, a phone rang inside the handbag. Luckily, it was connected to her car and so, she answered it when her friend, Shane, was the one who called. 

"Yow, where the hell are you? Our call time is nine in the morning and it's been one hour yet you haven't even arrived!" her friend ranted in the other line. 

She chuckled nervously as her hand caressed her nape. "I'm sorry, Shane. Father didn't like us to leave the dining room before him and also, I had a conversation with my mom and Carry."

A sigh released on the other line, discerning the outrageous rules that needed to be obeyed by the members of the family except for the head, her father.  

"I can't believe it's still a thing… your family didn't have royal blood to have strict rules that needed to be obeyed."

"It's a big deal to my family so I can't help but to heed. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I'm in the middle of the road."

"Okay, drive safe."