Chapter Four is flash back

                                    

                                          
She stood frozen in the hallway, her shoes pressing into the polished floor as if they could anchor her. Cassie's hurried footsteps faded outside, leaving Meredith alone with her mother. Elisa closed the door with a deliberate, heavy finality.
"What did I just see, Meredith?" Elisa's voice was calm, but Meredith could hear the venom beneath it, bubbling, waiting to spill over.
Meredith swallowed hard, her throat dry. "I..." Her voice faltered.
"Meredith." Her mother's tone snapped like a whip, sharper now. "What. Did. I. Just. See?"
Meredith clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. Her heart pounded, but she forced the words out. "I was kissing Cassie."
The calm shattered instantly. Elisa's face twisted into something unrecognizable, all sharp edges and unrestrained fury.
"Kissing?" she spat the word like it was poison. "You were kissing another girl? My daughter? Acting like some... some disgusting pervert?"
Meredith flinched as Elisa's voice rose, her words ringing through the grand house. The carefully curated elegance of their home seemed to mock the chaos unfolding within it.
"You think that's acceptable?" Elisa continued, her voice climbing to a near scream. She grabbed a vase from a nearby table and hurled it at the wall, shattering it into jagged shards. Meredith flinched again, her breath hitching.
"I raised you better than this," Elisa shouted, pacing the room like a caged animal. "This is what you do? You bring shame to this family? To me?"
She grabbed a picture frame from the mantle, a family photo, all smiles and forced perfection, and threw it, the glass shattering just inches from Meredith's feet.
Meredith wanted to run, to disappear, but her legs wouldn't move.
"You're sick," Elisa hissed, her voice dropping into something colder, more cutting. "You're broken. No daughter of mine is going to act like some... some filthy deviant. You're a disgrace."
Meredith hadn't argued. She hadn't shouted back. She just stood there, letting her mother's words wash over her, each one pushing her deeper into herself.
The sound of a chair being knocked over rang in her ears, followed by the cold splash of water as Elisa upended a glass in her direction.
"I'll fix this," Elisa had hissed, more to herself than to Meredith. "I'll fix you."
Meredith didn't wait to find out what that meant. She slipped away, retreating to her room like a ghost, locking the door behind her.
She could still hear her mother downstairs, pacing, muttering to herself, but it was distant now. The room felt suffocating, her chest tight as she looked down at her trembling hands.
Five minutes later, Roger pulled up to the house. He had barely parked when he noticed something was off. The front door was unlocked, the lights in the living room dimmed but not off.
Roger burst into the house, his chest heaving as dread settled in his stomach. He had gotten Cassie's voicemail only minutes ago, but it felt like an eternity. Something was wrong, he knew it.
"Elisa?" he called out, his voice strained.
She sat on the couch, perfectly still, her hands folded in her lap. She didn't turn to face him, didn't even flinch at his frantic tone.
"She's upstairs," Elisa said calmly, her voice void of emotion.
Her detachment sent a shiver down Roger's spine, but he didn't stop to ask why. He bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.