𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦 [𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘒 1] 𝘠/𝘕 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘬

-2-

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I woke up an hour later than my usual wake-up time, thanks to Dad. "Good Morning, Ms. (Y/N)," Jarvis greeted me as I got out of bed and put on my robe over my pyjamas.

"Morning to you too, Jarvis," I replied as I took my phone, slipping it into my pocket. "Would you like me to read you your schedule for today?" Jarvis asked politely.

"No thanks, Jarvis. Just send it to my phone. I'll go through it in a few minutes," I told Jarvis as I went downstairs to the kitchen.

I made myself some coffee to start the day. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. "Oh god! Mom, you scared the shit out of me!" I exclaimed to the woman with blonde hair, Pepper Potts. I never knew my real mom. All I knew was that my dad slept with a woman, and that woman left me at his doorstep after I was born. Pepper was like a mom to me. She took care of me, helped me, and did all the things moms do for their kids. I once accidentally called her mom, and I thought she was going to say something about it, but she didn't. She told me to call her mom if I wanted to. I saw her as my mom figure.

"Sorry about that, darling. I was going to the living room when I saw you. Thought I'd say morning to you," she said as she walked towards me, kissing me on the forehead. I loved it when she did that; it made me feel so warm inside.

"It's fine, mom! Morning to you too," I said with a smile, then looked at the dry cleaning in her hand. "Is that dad's?" I asked her as I took a sip of my coffee.

"This? Uh, no. This is Ms. Christine's," she replied, glancing at the dry cleaning and back at me. I had forgotten about that woman. I hated it when Dad would bring women into our house. I always tried to get mom and dad together, but it never worked. But I could tell that they did have a little chemistry every time they talked to each other.

"Why are you doing her dry-cleaning? You aren't her slave. Let her do it," I replied in a cold tone. I'd seen that woman's records. From that face, I could tell she was annoying as hell.

"She's a guest at our house, so this was the least I could do," Mom replied with a small smile. I took another sip of the coffee.

"Just because she's a guest doesn't mean you should do that. I mean, seriously. That woman can do it by herself. She has hands," I said before taking more sips from the coffee.

Mom sighed softly, placing the dry cleaning on the kitchen counter. "I know you don't like her, darling. But try to be polite, okay? Your father invited her." Bullsh*t.

I rolled my eyes as I took more sips from my coffee. "Fine, Mom. I'll be polite, but I won't pretend to like her."

Mom chuckled, ruffling my hair affectionately. "That's my girl."

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I followed Mom into the living room, where we found Christine playing with the controls on the wall. The panel beeped at her. "You are not authorized to access this area," Jarvis spoke, and the controls turned red. Christine took a step back, clearly startled.

"Jesus," she muttered.

"That's JARVIS. He runs the house," Mom explained with her usual warm smile. "I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go," Mom added as she gestured towards the door.

"You must be the famous Pepper Potts," Christine said, approaching us with the dry cleaning in hand.

"Indeed I am," Mom replied with a smile as she turned to face Christine. I couldn't help but observe this woman closely.