She ran far enough to escape the rumors. Just not far enough to outrun the truth.
After a scandal tore her family apart, Lena moved three towns over and built a new life. New name. New job. New friends who don’t ask questions. It works, until her younger brother shows up on her doorstep with a duffel bag and the words: “Mom’s sick. She’s asking for you.”
Going back means facing the people who judged her, the house full of memories, and the mistake she’s spent years pretending never happened. Staying away means abandoning the only family she has left.
As Lena steps back into the town she swore she’d never see again, old secrets resurface and new ones form. The closer she gets to home, the harder it becomes to tell who she’s protecting — her family, or herself.
