I should have gone home that night.

After my sister's raw outburst of confessions, after watching her crumble before my eyes in ways I'd rarely witnessed, the most logical thing would have been to leave. To quietly pick up Alice, drive back to the mansion under cover of darkness, and deal with this mess from a distance, where I could think clearly and strategically.

But that approach felt cowardly. Weak. As if I were running away from something I should have prevented years ago. I couldn't leav