CHAPTER 35

GAIA

I stepped out onto the marble pavement, my heart thudding loudly in my chest with my jittery hand holding the umbrella over my head.

I remembered that my father had come to meet me a few weeks before, saying that I didn't have a lot of time left.

Of course, I didn't listen to him and I'd even forgotten that I'd seen him because of how busy he was. Even if I wasn't busy, I doubted that I would have wanted to see him or speak to him either way.

My father was dying and I didn't know how to feel about that.

The fact that I didn't exactly have an award-winning relationship with him just made things worse. I didn't want to be anywhere close to him or my mother.

Being back in this house after all these years made my feet cold. Despite the rain, I could still feel it numbing up because of how my brain had been trained to react when I was in this house.

The first thing I noticed was that the house was quiet, and I wasn't seeing maids and guards moving around the house.

The house wa