All Chapters of SAVED BY MY BROTHERS : Chapter 171 - Chapter 178

Lilly’s hands trembled as she clutched the edge of Zane’s desk, the worn wood cool beneath her fingertips. The dorm room felt smaller suddenly, the late afternoon light slanting through the single window casting long shadows across the scattered textbooks. She had come here for tutoring—nothing more. Yet the words had spilled out like blood from an old wound she had sworn never to reopen.Zane sat frozen on the edge of his bed, his usual easy confidence shattered. His dark eyes, which had teased her moments ago with that infuriating nickname, now held only raw horror. “Mauli…” he whispered, the name soft, almost reverent. He had started calling her that weeks ago, a playful twist on her full name that somehow felt intimate. Now it sounded like a plea.She shook her head, tears carving hot trails down her cheeks. “I didn’t deserve that, did I? I was just… there. Doing my duty as school captain. And he—” Her voice cracked. The memory surged again, unbidden.FlashbackThe high school aud

Lilly spent the entire night buried in her wardrobe.“C’mon, Lilly, just wear this,” Hannah said, holding up a dress for the third time. “It’s really not that deep — you’re just watching him perform, it’s not like he is going to propose to you or anything .” She said with a grin on her face.“It’s not like—” Lilly started, then stopped herself. “Hannah, please. I need to look good.”Hannah sighed, laughing despite herself. “Zane wouldn’t care what you wear. But look at you right now.” She paused, studying her friend’s frantic pile of rejected outfits. “Hannah, c’mon.”“Zane is nothing but my fake boyfriend,” Lilly reminded her, a little too quickly. “I’m going out with my real you know this well and I don’t have to explain myself much .”Hannah just shrugged. “Okay, if you insist, ma’am.”Lilly spent the rest of that night still searching for the best one.In the morning, she woke to the buzz of her phone. Ethan was supposed to pick her up from her dorm — instead there was a message w

Lilly waited inside their dorm , absently scrolling through her phone while stealing glances at the entrance every few seconds. It wasn’t until nearly ten minutes later that Hannah finally appeared, her cheerful grin as bright as ever.“Hey, bestie!” Hannah called loudly, wrapping an arm around Lilly’s shoulders. “How was the performance with Ethan?”Lilly let out a long sigh.“It… didn’t go as well as I hoped.”Hannah frowned slightly. “What happened?”“He was busy.”“Oh, poor baby.” Hannah dramatically placed a hand over her heart before sitting beside her. “Tell me something. Did he notice the dress you kept staring at in the store? The one you spent nearly an hour deciding on?”Lilly looked down at her lap.“No.”“No?”“He didn’t even compliment me.”Hannah burst into laughter.“Look, I told you he wouldn’t! Ethan is exactly the kind of guy who doesn’t pay attention to details. The moment I met him, I knew.”She nudged Lilly with her shoulder.“So… basically, you received zero co

Hannah looked over to find Lilly already burrowing into her blankets, clearly done with the night before it had properly ended.“You’re sleeping already?”“Yes. I’m tired, Hannah.”Hannah sighed, unconvinced. “Is it because something’s bothering you?”“Like what,” Lilly said flatly, not really a question.“Like the fact that he raised his voice at you, and you’ve never seen that side of him before.”“Hannah, please. I need to rest. Let’s not talk about Zane, okay? Let’s just act like nothing actually happened.”“But everything happened, Lilly.”Lilly didn’t answer. She just closed her eyes and let sleep pull her under before the conversation could go any further. Hannah watched her a moment longer, sighed, and finally left her to it.Under the blanket, though, Lilly wasn’t asleep at all — not yet. She lay there, quietly furious, and not entirely at Zane. She’d grown up in a house where no one raised their voice, not once, not for anything, and so when Zane’s had cracked out cold and s