Chapter 239

Her hammering heart chugged as fast as her runaway thoughts. What if the intruder had heard her? Or saw Trees’s clothes swinging on their hangers or…any of the other hundred things she could think that would tell him he wasn’t alone in the house?

Seconds ticked by. With her hand pressed against her rattling chest, she stood frozen, not even daring to creep down the stairs. Since she couldn’t risk turning on a light, she closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the suffocating darkness.

Finally, she heard a door slam and his stomping footsteps retreat to the kitchen, where he banged cabinets and broke glass. With every sound, Laila felt this man’s rage, and she felt horrible for Trees. He wasn’t here to defend his house. He’d likely moved away from the city to avoid crime and people, for privacy and peace.

That was all being defiled and defaced now, because of her.

The sounds crossed the house, getting fainter as he moved farther away, but no less violent.