I didn't sleep that night.
I stayed curled up in the guest room, lights off, the folder still tucked under the mattress. My eyes burned from crying, but my mind wouldn't stop racing. Every breath I took felt like glass in my throat.
And somehow… by morning, I knew exactly what I needed to do.
I walked into the kitchen like nothing was wrong, like I wasn't carrying the weight of betrayal in my chest. Dominic was pouring coffee, tie loose, sleeves rolled. He looked up and smiled like nothing had shattered.
"You want a cup?" he asked.
I nodded. "Sure. Thanks."
He handed it to me, and our fingers brushed. I didn't flinch — but I didn't feel warmth either.
"I was thinking…" I said casually, stirring the cream into my coffee, "I might go visit my parents today. It's been a while. I just… miss them."
Dominic paused, just for a second. "Do you want me to come with you?"
I shook my head, forcing a soft smile. "No. I think I need to talk to them alone."
He studied me for a beat, his brows pulling slightly. But I held his gaze — steady, unreadable.
"All right," he finally said, leaning in to kiss my forehead. I didn't move. I let it happen. I even kissed his cheek back.
I was getting too good at pretending.
The drive to my parents' house felt longer than usual, like my thoughts made time stretch. When I finally pulled up, my mom opened the door before I even reached the porch.
"Lila?" she blinked. "Is everything okay?"
I smiled, but it cracked at the edges. "I just wanted to see you guys."
My dad stepped out from the living room, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. "Come in, sweetheart. We just finished lunch."
I sat at the table with them, letting the warmth of the house wrap around me. The walls weren't high-end. Nothing was marble. The chairs didn't match. But it felt real.
It felt like home.
My mom made tea, and I watched the steam curl out of the mugs as I finally said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
They both froze.
My dad's brows lifted. "Tell you what?"
I looked at them — tears already pressing behind my eyes. "That the bookstore was already gone. That it was shut down before I said yes to him."
My mom's hand trembled slightly as she set her mug down. My dad leaned forward, his face tightening.
"Lila," my mom whispered. "We didn't want to… we didn't want to make it worse. You were already sacrificing so much—"
"I thought I was saving us," I said, my voice cracking. "I thought I married him to protect something that was still standing. I didn't know he'd already taken it from us."
My dad exhaled slowly. "We found out weeks later. He paid off the press to delay the headlines. Made it look like the store was in limbo."
"But it wasn't." My hands were shaking. "He let me believe I still had a choice."
My mom's eyes filled with tears. "We thought maybe… if you didn't know, you could still feel like you were in control of something."
I broke then.
I covered my face with my hands and sobbed, the pain finally free from my chest. My mom rushed around the table and pulled me into her arms, holding me like she used to when I scraped my knees as a kid.
"I'm sorry," I cried. "I'm so sorry I married him. I thought I was helping—"
"You were doing what you thought was right," my dad said softly. "That doesn't make it wrong."
But it felt wrong.
All of it did.
And now I didn't know how to go back.