Lila’s POV
The car stops before the mansion, and for a long, heavy second, I can’t move. The sight of it—its towering gates, the sprawling marble walls glinting under the soft glow of the outdoor lights—feels like standing before a grave I swore I’d never return to.
The moment Liam pushes open the front door, a rush of air greets me, thick and cold, carrying ghosts that never left. My chest tightens as memories hit me—hard, merciless. The fall from the stairs. The sharp pain that split through me as I screamed for help that never came. Liam’s arms wrapped around Claudia, carrying her away while I lay bleeding, begging, dying. The echo of my cries. The baby I’d lost. The day I left this house, broken and empty, believing it was finally over.
But here I am again. Back in the same place th
