Chapter 241

Lauren's POV

I walked into the living room, my heels making soft taps against the floor as I stepped further inside. The lights were on, the curtains half-drawn, everything looking exactly the way it normally did, yet somehow the atmosphere felt different. A kind of heaviness lingered in the air, something I couldn’t exactly place. Maybe it was just me being tired, but still… something felt off. Almost like the house had exhaled a long sigh right before I walked in.

I found it a bit strange that Liz hadn’t texted me to say she’d settled in. Especially considering how we practically missed each other this morning by just a few minutes. Even if she was still getting used to her new surroundings, at least a short "I've settled in” message should’ve come through. The silence made me pause for a moment, looking around the room again, trying to figure out why everything felt so unusu