The rain hadn’t stopped.
Emma walked through it, barely feeling the cold sting of it anymore. The streets were almost empty, just the sound of thunder rolling across the dark sky and the soft splash of her shoes against puddles. Her mind was louder than the storm — replaying every second in Lucian’s office. The way he’d said her name. The way her body had betrayed her, responding when she knew she shouldn’t.
By the time she reached home, her hair clung to her face and her clothes were soaked through. She pushed open the front door quietly, hoping to slip past unnoticed. But the faint hum of the television met her ears — voices, laughter, the kind that didn’t belong to her.
They were all there.
Her mother sat on the couch beside Lily, who was scrolling through her phone. Her father, gla
