LILY
“What do we do now?”
The question tore out of me before I could stop it. Panic sat tight in my chest, sharp and relentless, like I’d swallowed something with edges.
Willow didn’t flinch.
She stood by the window of her bedroom, hands folded neatly in front of her, staring out at the manicured gardens as if I’d just asked her what she wanted for lunch.
“Ella,” she said calmly, “you need to breathe.”
I let out a shaky laugh. “Breathe? You just told me Lily is Alice’s mother. You stole her baby. Ace doesn’t know. Alice just called her Mama in front of everyone. And you’re telling me to breathe?”
She turned slowly, fixing me with a look so sharp it sliced clean through my hysteria.
“Yes,” she said. “Because panic is useless.”
I pressed my hands into my hair, pacing the length of t
