Chapter 195

Lauren's POV

I froze, my back hitting the kitchen counter as I took a small step backward. My gaze fell on the stick she was holding, it's wooden edge glistening faintly under the weak light that seeped through the cracked kitchen window. I could see it clearly now… the stick was smeared with dark, half-dried blood. My stomach turned. That wasn’t paint. That was real. Maybe from one of the officers who had stormed in moments ago?

My eyes drifted back up to her face, and for a moment, I wished I hadn’t looked. Sophia’s expression was a picture of pure hatred, her lips pulled tight, her pupils small and sharp like a predator’s. The venom in her stare made the room feel smaller, suffocating. There was no doubt she wasn’t here to congratulate me for finding her or to talk things out. She was here for something else, something darker.

“You,” she said, her voice cutting through the silence like a knife. Her grip on the stick tightened, her knuckles white