LILY
I should have known the call would come before I even got home.
By the time I stepped into the house, dragging my bag behind me with a weight that felt heavier than it should have been, I could already feel it.
The tension.
It sat thick in the air, quiet but suffocating, like the house itself knew something had broken.
“Lily.” My father’s voice cut through the silence before I even made it past the foyer.
He was standing in the living room, still in his work clothes, tie slightly loosened, but his posture was rigid, his expression tight with barely contained anger. My mother sat on the couch behind him, her hands clasped together, her eyes flicking toward me with something that looked like worry.
That didn’t help.
“What is this I’m hearing?” my father asked, his voice controll
