Semua Bab SAVED BY MY BROTHERS : Bab 171 - Bab 175

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