Chapter 42

EMILIA

Liam has been gone longer than I expected.

I frown. Didn’t he just go to get the door? It shouldn’t take this long.

I try not to let my mind spiral, but it’s hard when everything seems to be crashing down around me.

First, Stone and all the memories he dragged back into my life. Now, this—my family’s name, plastered across the internet like a headline in some twisted fairy tale.

I force myself to move. I slip into the bathroom, letting the hot water run over me, washing away the weight in my chest. I focus on breathing, on standing still, on the small victory of not collapsing under the pressure of everything that’s gone wrong.

I try not to think about the last time I spoke to my family.

My mother’s voice, sharp and unrelenting. My father’s heavy silence, his disappointment louder than any words he could have said. My younger sister’s glare, filled with a resentment I fully understand.

I shut my eyes. Think of the good things, E