NICk POV
The second I stepped through the front door, I could already hear my father screaming. Not talking. Not raising his voice. Screaming.
The kind of deep, booming roar that could make the walls tremble — or maybe that was just my heart doing jumping jacks in my chest.
Nara and I exchanged a look. Hers said “Don’t make it worse.” Mine said “I’m already doomed.”
The voice was coming from the visitors’ sitting room. And from the sound of it, someone in there was about to get skinned alive. I had a sinking suspicion that someone… was me.
We walked toward the noise, my sneakers sinking into the thick carpet like even the floor wanted to slow me down. Every step felt like walking toward my own funeral.
Through the doorway, I caught the scene:
My father, towering like an angry king
