Chapter 180. Shameless

Lilac’s POV

Getting back home felt stranger than I had anticipated.

The house looked the same—too big for the number of people living in it, too polished in places where warmth should have been—but something about it felt heavier. Like the walls had absorbed too many arguments, too many compromises made in silence. The moment I stepped inside, I kicked off my shoes and tied my hair up, already itching to clean.

I hated mess.

Not just physical clutter, but the kind that seeped into your mind. Chaos on surfaces always seemed to mirror chaos inside me, and right now, my head was a battlefield.

Shawna’s voice grated on my nerves as she trailed behind me, talking endlessly. She spoke as though we were old friends reunited, as though she hadn’t spent years making it clear how little