MasukMia’s POV I saw her the moment I stepped in Sophia stood at the front door of Lucian’s house, phone pressed to her ear, one hand resting on the frame as if she belonged there. For a second I almost turn around. Almost. Then I stepped in Walking toward the house felt exactly like stepping into a den I had no business entering. Still, I kept my shoulders straight and my expression calm. Lions did not retreat. The second Sophia’s eyes landed on me, her entire face changed. Whatever conversation she had been having ended abruptly. She lowered the phone and moved toward me with a speed that left no room for politeness. Her hand landed across my cheek before I could react. The force of the slap staggered me back a step. Heat bloomed across my skin. “What the hell are you doing here?” she shouted. “How dare you come here” I did not let her finish. My own hand swung up and connected solidly with her cheek. The sound cracked through the quiet front yard. Sophia’s eyes went wide…wide
Mia’s POVI left the door open just enough.Not wide. Just a thin crack that let the voices from downstairs drift upward clearly enough for me to hear every word. I sat on the edge of my bed at first, arms folded, listening with the same detached irritation I always felt when Lily started talking about the past. The usual complaints. The same tired stories. I almost rolled my eyes when she began listing the years of “abuse.” As if any of it had been that serious.Then Mom asked about the hospital.I went still.Lily’s voice was quieter when she answered, but I still heard every detail. The locked door. The open window. The way I had stood there watching her. Mom’s silence afterward was longer than any of the others. When she finally spoke again, her tone had changed. Softer toward Lily. Harder toward the idea of me.That was the moment I understood.Mom’s loyalty was shifting.For years she had been the one person who always sided with me, who believed my version of events, who blamed
Lily’s POVThe car ride home was silent.Not the heavy, expectant kind of silence that usually filled the space between arguments. This one was colder. Emptier. Mom’s hands stayed tight on the steering wheel the entire way. She didn’t glance at either of us in the rearview mirror. She didn’t speak. The only sound was the low hum of the engine and the occasional soft click of the turn signal.I sat by the window, watching the familiar streets blur past. Beside me, Mia had stopped crying the moment the school gates disappeared behind us. The tears were gone as if they had never existed. Her cheek still carried the faint red mark from Mom’s slap, but her expression had settled into something unreadable. Calm. Almost bored.That scared me more than the crying ever had.When we finally pulled into the driveway, Mom killed the engine and sat still for a second longer than necessary. Then she opened her door.“Inside. Both of you. Sit down.”We followed her into the living room without a wor
Lily’s POVThe hallway had gone completely silent.Not the usual school silence of people pretending not to listen. This was real. Heavy. Like every student had forgotten how to breathe.I stood frozen, staring at the red mark blooming across Mia’s cheek. My mind kept replaying the sound the sharp, final bang of Mom’s hand meeting skin. I had never seen Mom hit Mia before. Not once. Not even when Mia had done far worse in private. The shock of it left a strange ringing in my ears.Mia’s hand rose slowly to her face. Her fingers trembled as they brushed the place Mom had struck. Then the tears came fast, dramatic, flooding down her cheeks as if someone had flipped a switch.“How could you do that to your own sister?” Mom’s voice cracked through the silence, low and shaking with fury. “How could you push her into that freezer?”Mia’s head snapped up. The tears kept falling, but her voice came out desperate, almost frantic.“I didn’t! Mom, I swear I didn’t try to hurt her like that. The
Lily’s POVThe second message from Mia hit my screen almost immediately after the first.HOW DARE YOUMy fingers tightened around the phone. Before I could even process the all-caps rage, her name lit up again this time with an incoming call. The screen pulsed. I stared at it, heart slamming against my ribs. Every instinct told me to ignore it, to let it ring out, to pretend I hadn’t seen. But my thumb moved on its own. I hesitated one last second, then answered.I expected screaming. I expected the full force of her fury pouring through the speaker the second the call connected. Instead, her voice came through low, almost measured, far too calm for the storm she had just texted.“You actually did it.”A pause. Then a soft, bitter laugh that didn’t sound like laughter at all.“I knew you were faking it. All that sweet talk. Pretending you were protecting me. I knew it was all fake. You snake. You were never trying to protect me.”I closed my eyes for a second, forcing my voice to stay
Lily’s POVThe message from Sam lit up my screen the moment I unlocked my phone.We really need to see. Lily, I want to discuss something important with you.My stomach tightened. I already knew what he wanted to talk about. The video. The one he’d sent to Lucian. The one that showed everything Mia had done to me inside that freezer. I stared at the words for a long second, then typed back a single, flat reply.Okay.I wasn’t in the mood for texting. I tossed the phone onto the bed and let my head fall back against the pillow, eyes half-closed. Just a few more minutes of quiet. That was all I wanted.“Lily! Come down and have your breakfast!”Mom’s voice carried up the stairs like it always did sharp, impatient, impossible to ignore. I groaned and stayed still for a second longer, wishing I could skip the food entirely. My body felt heavy. My mind felt heavier.I finally pushed myself up. As I stood, the tall mirror across from my bed caught my reflection. I paused. Really looked.My







