Chapter Ninety-Six

Lauren's POV

I stared at my phone, the digits of the unknown number that had just been used to call me glaring back at me as I dialed it and placed the phone against my ear. Three rings had come and gone, each one stretching into an agonizing eternity.

No one had answered. I let out a frustrated breath, my fingers tightening around the device as if I could will the caller to pick up.

Whoever was on the other end of that line was a shadow in the fog of my memories, a ghostly figure I couldn’t shake. The voice had been chilling, cold, and detached. The words had seared into my mind: “Aren’t you grateful that I spared your life?”

That voice belonged to the person who had shattered my world, the one who had taken my mother from me. The rage that simmered within me was a constant companion, a reminder of the injustice I felt every waking moment.

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and took a deep breath. The room felt suffocating, the walls closing in on