Chapter 92

DAHLIA

Home.

The word had never felt this heavy before.

I stood in the middle of my dorm room, taking in the familiar clutter of books and clothes, the faint smell of lavender detergent that Izzy swore by, and the quiet hum of the city outside the window. Everything was exactly where I left it…and yet, I wasn’t the same person who had left it behind.

Before now, the only place I had called home was my father’s house, where we all lived as a family of four. The same house had been neglected since Mom had been admitted to the hospital. I’ve stopped going there too.

I never told Mom the bank people already reached out about taking over our apartment. It would break her heart. It breaks my heart too every time I think about it. The thought of losing her house…the memories…just like that.

The house was used as collateral for a loan Dad took for a contract before he died. I tried to get the money back, but it already went into the contract, and the pe