Chapter 167

Kate POV

I didn’t even remember how I got here. One moment I was walking barefoot down unfamiliar streets, my clothes damp from the night air clinging uncomfortably to my skin, my stomach twisting with hunger that had stopped feeling sharp and started feeling constant. Time felt broken, like it had been slipping in and out of focus without me noticing.

And then, suddenly, I was standing in front of Kelly’s house.

Her perfect house.

The white porch lights cut through the darkness in a soft, steady glow, warm and inviting in a way that felt almost unreal after everything I had just been through. It stood there like nothing in the world had ever gone wrong inside it, like it had never known chaos, or loss, or the kind of exhaustion that makes you forget who you used to be.

I blinked slowly, trying to understand how I had even ended up here.

But the truth settled in quickly, uncomfortable and simple.

I had come here anyway.

Not beca