#Chapter 108: A Bloodline Divided

Lauren “Mark?” The name left my throat like a bomb, my heart recognizing him before my head. I stood frozen, the weight of the truth pressing down on me like a heavy blanket, suffocating every thought in my head. My mother—Lily—stood across the room, her posture rigid and almost… expectant, as if she had been waiting for this moment for years. I hadn’t noticed her shift, hadn’t noticed how her eyes darted back and forth between me and Mark—my brother—until it was too late. There was no turning back now. But he was… dead. Or so I thought? Back when counters were still too tall and I was rosey in my playful cheeks, he had passed. Mark was now… massive, hulking, his body swollen with muscle, his eyes too wide, too empty, like a wild animal who had been caged for too long. His appearance alone should have been enough to shock me. His hands were large, thick with veins and scars, his feet like oversized boots, designed for someone who didn’t fit the world he was born into. But th