Chapter 21
Warm light filtered through the sheer curtains of Lena’s bedroom, casting soft golden lines across her blanket. She blinked slowly, disoriented at first, until her gaze landed on the digital clock beside her bed.
**12:03 PM.**
She let out a long sigh, stretching her arms above her head as the tension in her shoulders cracked and eased. For the first time in days, she didn’t feel like she was suffocating. The dull ache in her limbs remained, but it had dulled to something manageable—like the aftermath of a storm instead of the storm itself.
She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. The house was quiet, the kind of quiet that only came when everyone else was gone. No footsteps. No chatter. Just the occasional creak of the house settling and the hum of summer air pushing through the
