Chapter 167

Lake POV

I didn’t know where I was going.

My feet were moving, carrying Ollie and me down the driveway, away from Ramon’s house—away from what I’d thought was our home. But I had no destination in mind. No plan. No idea what came next.

All I knew was that I had to get away. Had to put distance between myself and the man who’d been lying to me for a week. The man who’d gotten me pregnant when I was fourteen years old and never said a word.

“Mama, where are we going?” Ollie asked between sobs, his face pressed against my neck. “Why did we leave? Why was everyone yelling?”

“We just need to go, baby,” I said, my voice shaking. “We need to—we need some space.”

“But I don’t want space,” Ollie cried. “I want Papa. Mama, please, can we go back? I want to go back home.”

Home. Was it even our home? Or had it been a prison all along, just with prettier bars than Samuel’s? Had Ramon planned all of this from the beginning? Finding us at the beach,