Susan's POV
David stood beside me, tall and unshaken, his palm resting at the small of my back—as if he could anchor the storm brewing inside me. The touch was steadying, grounding, yet my breath still caught in my throat. Walking into this house again felt like stepping onto a witness stand in a trial I hadn’t prepared for—a trial where the jury had already decided I was guilty.
Fear. Excitement. And that sharp ache of leaving my father behind tangled inside my chest.
The air carried the scent of polished oak and faint cigarette smoke, wrapping around me like a familiar ghost. I could almost hear the echo of my younger footsteps on the marble floors and feel the sting of Stella’s sharp words in the hallways. The walls had seen too much. They remembered everything.
We had taken no m
