Chapter 178. A Storm Brewing

Aurora’s POV

That night, after returning to my room, a storm raged outside, howling through the trees and rattling the windows like it was trying to force its way in. The air felt heavy, thick with something I couldn’t quite name, pressing down on my chest as I sat curled up on the bed.

Every light in the room was on, pushing back the shadows, but no matter how bright it was, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from drifting back to Lucas and what he had done. He had kept my mother’s skeleton in my room—my mother’s old room—like some twisted trophy, a constant reminder of everything he had stolen from me. The image was burned into my mind, and no matter how much I tried to push it away, it clung to me, wrapping around my thoughts like vines strangling the life out of something.

I wasn’t angry that her skeleton had been destroyed when the house collapsed. If anything, I was relieved. That place—where I had suffered, where so many others had suffered—was gone, reduced