The Monster at My Feet novel Chapter 1

That feeling was back.

Someone was watching her.

Ever since her very first day returning to the Lawson estate from the countryside, the sensation had shadowed her.

It felt like a cold draft sweeping over the nape of her neck, raising goosebumps along her spine and sending a faint shiver through her body.

The night was moonless, the streetlights dim, and the tree branches cast sprawling, web-like shadows across the pavement.

She felt a flicker of genuine excitement.

Just as she tried to savor the thrill, a balding, heavy-set man suddenly blocked her path.

"Hey there, beautiful. All alone?"

The man flashed a sleazy grin, stepping closer and giving her a little wave.

Sylvie Vance stopped in her tracks, blinking with wide, innocent eyes.

As he got a better look at the young girl's face, his smile grew even more predatory, the heavy flesh of his cheeks trembling with anticipation.

"You are absolutely gorgeous, sweetheart. Are you lonely? Want to come have some fun with me?"

He closed the distance and suddenly ripped his trench coat wide open!

Revealing nothing but his bare, greasy flesh underneath.

He stared intently at the girl's face, eagerly anticipating a look of sheer terror and a high-pitched scream.

Sylvie didn't flinch. Her dark eyes casually scanned him from top to bottom before her lips curved into a sweet, flawless smile. Her voice was soft and light.

"You must be Stumpy."

Her completely unexpected reaction, paired with the gloomy shadows, made her delicate face look faintly sinister.

The man froze in place.

But soon, anger overtook his fear. Humiliated and furious, he barked,

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

He lunged forward in a fit of rage, but a fraction of a second later, a blade flashed in the dark.

The girl's slender fingers danced, the metal catching the dim light as she stared him down with a smirk.

His expression faltered. Ultimately, he pulled his coat tight, spun around, and bolted.

He didn't forget to toss a parting threat over his shoulder. "Are you crazy?! You just wait!"

The girl clicked her tongue in disappointment.

Every eye turned toward the young girl who looked entirely out of place.

The stares held a mix of surprise, disdain, amusement, and pity.

Over a decade ago, on the day Lawrence Lawson, the Chairman of Vance Group, married his new bride, he had shipped off his late ex-wife's three-year-old daughter to foster care in the countryside.

The girl had taken her deceased mother's maiden name.

Although Lawrence claimed it was for the sake of the child's fragile health, the reality was that he wanted to please his new wife and erase the humiliating past of having joined a wealthier family.

Recently, the Lawson family had finally brought her back.

As for her status in the household... rumor had it that even the live-in maids could boss her around.

The elegant socialite standing in the center of the living room lowered her champagne glass. She shot the girl a surprised look, her eyes flashing with a split-second of raw disgust.

"What are you doing here?"

The young girl timidly shrank back, flashing a soft, harmless smile.

"Good evening. It's Lucas's birthday party today, and I wanted to celebrate too."

Helena Ward-Lawson scanned her from head to toe, looking at her as if she were an offensive piece of trash.

"This is a Lawson family gala, not some backwoods playground," she said, her smile utterly flawless. "Sylvie, you need to present yourself properly, understand?"