Chapter 28

Lake POV

The ringing seemed to echo through the room, each tone hammering against my eardrums like physical blows. I knew I should answer it. Samuel’s rules had been clear about ignored calls—the punishment was always worse if you made him wait, if you showed defiance by refusing to pick up.. But this was not supposed to happen anymore.

But I also knew that answering would shatter the fragile sense of safety I’d begun to build. Once Samuel was back in our lives, once he knew where we were and what we’d found, everything would change. He’d find a way to destroy it, to use it against us, to turn our sanctuary into another trap.

The ringing stopped.

For a moment, blessed silence filled the room. Maybe it had been a mistake, a wrong number, a glitch in the phone system. Maybe—

It started ringing again.

This time, I forced myself to pick it up, my hands shaking so badly I nearly dropped it again. I knew better than to ignore a second call. Samue