chapter 105

Kurtis’s POV

I clenched my jaw, feeling the sharp edge of anger pressing against my heart as I stared at her, standing there in my father’s house as if she hadn’t already shattered everything we had. I took a slow, deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady, but the hurt, the bitterness, it was all right there, boiling over.

“Lyra, why are you here?” I asked, the words almost a growl. “I told you not to come to my house. Why, of all things, would you come crawling to my father?” My voice was sharper than I intended, but I didn’t care. The wounds she’d left were still raw, and seeing her now, in the last place I’d ever expected, only brought them closer to the surface.

She flinched, her eyes wide, startled by my tone. But she didn’t back down. That was one thing about Lyra, she always stood her ground, even when she knew she’d messed up.

“Kurtis, I’m here because I don’t know what else to do,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I thought… I thought maybe if I spoke to your dad, I cou