Lila's P.O.V
The drive back to the quarters blurred into a haze of tears and blurred taillights. I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, the sobs wrenching out of me in ugly, heaving gasps. Shayla whimpered from her car seat, sensing my distress, while Lucas stared out the window in silence, his little face pinched with confusion. Aiden slept against my chest in the sling, his steady breathing the only calm in this storm. How could everything fall apart so fast? The council's words echoed in my head—"treason," "punishment," "infidelity." They twisted my life into something ugly, something I barely recognized.
By the time I pulled into the driveway, my face was a mess—eyes swollen, cheeks streaked with mascara. I unbuckled the kids, carrying Shayla on one hip and gu
