Chapter 80 Layla's Past

Layla POV

I looked out at the horizon of the desert. In autumn last year, I witnessed a similar sunset that seemed to bleed across the sky.

Back then, I sat on my mother's old bed.

Even though I was light, it groaned beneath me. The house was filthy, with dust and grime clinging to the walls from years of neglect.

The sunset outside painted my mother's still face with the hue of blood.

It had been three days since she died.

Her body was starting to decompose, and the stench of death filled the air.

The entire three days were spent in silence. The only sounds of life came from behind our tattered door.

For three days, I sat there, thinking. How was I supposed to survive without her? I wasn't even 18 yet, and the slums were unforgiving to the weak.

And without her, I felt weaker than ever.

Suddenly, there was a frantic knock at the door. My heart raced, a whirlwind of fear and hope swirling inside me.

I slowly got to my feet and wiped my tears away with the back of my hand