Chapter 16

• LILY'S POV
• The following day, I woke up with a surge of excitement and rifled through my closet, my hands busy casting aside garments with disdain. The pile of cheap, second-hand dresses gifted by Rose and Riley over the years no longer had a place in my life.
• I remembered how, in my naive past life, I had believed their lies—that these hand-me-downs were new—and had cherished them like treasures. Now, with fresh clarity, I saw them for what they truly were: symbols of my mistreatment.