Lila's POV
The car pulled up the and stopped in front of the mansion. The driver didn't get out. He just waited until I stepped down myself. Then he drove off without a word. Left me standing there alone in front of a house I hadn't seen in weeks.
"Welcome home, Ma'am," the guard said. There was awe on his face.
"Thank you." He opened the door for me. I stood at the threshold and let myself think something I hadn't let myself admit before I left. This place had never been peaceful. Not once. Not since the night I first walked through these doors. Victor made that clear from the start. His sarcasm at dinner. The cold way he looked at me over breakfast. Every careful insult dressed up as concern.
My mother tried. In her quiet way she tried to soften it. But she never could stop it. She d
