Chapter 10

• Emerson
• I woke up later than usual, my body heavy from the restless night I had endured. My mind had been racing, replaying Raven’s coldness, Clark’s smugness, and the weight of my own lies. The guilt of everything gnawed at me, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from spiraling further down this pit I had dug. By the time I dragged myself out of bed and made my way downstairs, the smell of breakfast filled the house, but something else hung in the air—tension. Thick, suffocating tension.
• As I stepped into the dining room, I found Clark, Raven, and Lila already seated. Raven sat at one end of the table, her posture stiff, her gaze fixed on her plate. Clark leaned back in his chair, casually taking in the room, as if he wasn’t the cause of half my problems. And Lila… Lila was doing her best to appear unaffected, but I could see the worry in her eyes, the tightness around her mouth.