CHAPTER 20: WHAT SHE COULDN’T HOLD ANYMORE
(Laila at home with her sister , Bianca Chadrod)
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Seven hours! That was how long Laila had been asleep. Not the kind of sleep that came with rest but the kind that came after breaking.
The curtains in her room were half-drawn, letting in thin strands of afternoon light that stretched quietly across the polished floor.
The air inside felt still, almost too quiet—like the house itself was holding its breath. Bianca, her sister, hadn't left.
She sat at the edge of the bed, one leg folded beneath her, her phone resting loosely in her hand, though she hadn’t looked at it in a while.
Her attention stayed on Laila, watching and waiting. Something about the way she had been brought in earlier—it didn’t sit right.
Men she didn’t recognize, cont
