I sat on my bed, staring at the locked door, my hands clenched into fists as rage and frustration simmered beneath my skin. The silence of the house was suffocating. No footsteps. No voices. Just an empty, controlled quiet.
I had been locked in my room for hours.
After Kody dragged me into the car and we drove off, my parents had been waiting for me when we arrived home. They hadn’t yelled. They hadn’t even lectured me like I expected. Instead, they had spoken in cold, measured voices, as if I were nothing more than a reckless child who had disobeyed their orders.
And then they locked me in here.
My phone? Gone.
Windows? Sealed shut.
Freedom? Stripped away.
I had never felt so powerless in my entire life.
My thoughts spiraled, my chest tightening as I pictured Michael—standing in t
