“Enough!” Xander snapped. “You’re not going. I won’t have you embarrassing us in front of important people. You stay here.”
“You can’t—”
My mother’s cold hand came down on my shoulder. “You’ve been nothing but a shame since into this family. You stay here and think about what you cost us.”
Before I could blink, the door slammed shut. The lock clicked.
I pressed my back to the door, my shoulders trembling as I sank to the floor.
Through the door, I could hear Nadia’s giggle, soft and smug. “It’s better this way, don’t you think? We can’t let her ruin today.”
Their footsteps faded down the hall, their voices trailing off with the sound of the cars pulling away one by one. And then finally, the house fell still.
I grabbed my phone, my hands shaking as I pulled up Noah’s number. I pressed call, praying he’d answer. He did before the first ring even finished.
“Lauren?”
His voice was so warm I almost broke. “They locked me in,” I whispered. “They left for the party, but they locked me in. I’m ready to go, please, Noah. I can’t stay here.”