Chapter 181 You Told Her Reese The whisk in my hand scraped harshly against the bowl, metal clanging metal in a way that grated even my own nerves. I should’ve kept my goddamn mouth shut. I should’ve just kept baking. Pretending. Smiling. Talking. But there are days where my patience, my restraint, my carefully constructed mask slips—and today was one of those days. Today, I was not interested in being the family shield or the family monster. Today, if someone wanted to start a fire, I was going to burn the whole house down with them inside it. Even if that person was my brother. Roman slammed his hand down on the counter, the impact almost making the utensils jump. “I said, what the hell did you just say?!” His voice vibrated through the kitchen walls. The cabinets rattled. The air thickened with the kind of tension that could split bone. All I had to do was say nothing. It would have been so easy. But easy isn’t something I am capable of. Especially not today. Today I was tired. Tired of swallowing glass and calling it peace. Tired of being the designated villain of this family. Tired of pretending loyalty and silence was still something I owed anyone. I wasn’t in the mood to be daddy’s shield today. If the general wanted to spit lies about me, then fine. He could choke on the truth. So I talked. I looked my brother dead in the eye and repeated it. “You heard me, Roman. Dahlia was planning to divorce you.” The words left my mouth sharp, unapologetic. “Your wife was so miserable she wanted out. She was alone. She was suffocating. She was drowning in a marriage where she was treated like furniture you occasionally polished to make yourself feel good. Your wife was done with your emotionally constipated ass and she finally found the courage to leave.” His jaw tightened. His eyes twitched. I could almost see the crack form in his chest. “And you know what else?” I stepped closer, heat rolling off me. “Our father knows exactly what pushed Dahlia that far. He just didn’t tell you. Because he likes watching us tear each other apart. It entertains him. It works in his favor.” Roman froze. His entire body went still, shoulders rigid, breathing held, like I had just pulled a pin from a live grenade and dropped it between us.Good. Let him feel it. “You think your ‘once-in-a-blue-moon love’ was enough?” I hissed. “You think showing up with flowers sometimes and kissing her forehead solved anything? You think staying awake to bake a fucking cake for her birthday would not have meant the world to her? You think she didn’t cry because she had to lie next to a man who didn’t know how to be a husband? She died waiting for you. Died hoping you’d look at her and see that she was lonely.” I saw it hit him. The way his shoulders slumped in slow motion, the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed something jagged. But there was no satisfaction in me. Just rage. “She couldn’t even ask her own goddamn sister for help,” I continued, voice rising, “because she knew Penny would run to you the second she did and you’d do what you always do—talk your way out of accountability. You would convince her to stay in a marriage that had its hands around her neck and was choking the life out of her. You’d sweep her pain under the rug just because you, Roman Blackwood, couldn’t stand to admit you failed at something. That you sucked at being a husband.” That was the final match. Roman lunged. His fist locked into my collar, yanking me forward. His other hand lifted, knuckles curling, arm trembling, ready to break my face open. The wooden spoon clattered to the ground.“Go on!” I screamed at him. “Do it! Hit me! You want to swing at someone? Go ahead! It’s always me! I’m always the one you take your shit out on!” The whisk fell from my hand, clattering to the floor. His fist hovered in the air, trembling. “Take it back,” he growled. “Take it back right now.” “No.” I shoved his chest, hard. His grip loosened. “Because it’s the truth. And you don't want to hear it.” His breathing turned jagged, uneven. For the first time in a long time, Roman looked unstable. Not angry—broken. He also looked furious at the same time. And I knew exactly where this was going before he even opened his mouth. “Dahlia would never dream of divorcing me,” he whispered, like he was speaking to ghosts. “You’re lying. You’re just—” His voice cracked. “You’re evil, Reese. You’re saying this because you’re bitter. You’re alone. And you want everyone to end up alone like you because you ruin everything you touch.” I scoffed. “I’d rather be alone than sleep with ghosts. At least solitude doesn’t pretend to love you back.” I let out a sharp humorless laugh. “I’m honest about the fact that I have no one. You? You’ve been lying to yourself for years. Dahlia was practically screaming for help and you didn’t hear a damn thing. You know I'm telling the truth. You know I have no reason to cook up a lie—” His head snapped up. “And what about the fact that you got my wife pregnant?” he spat. “Does that not count as motive? You want to save your ass so badly that you’re dragging her memory into this lie?” There it was again. The blade he kept stabbing me with. The lie that would not die. I laughed. “I’ll say this one more time. I did not fuck Dahlia. I did not touch her. But since you want proof—” I took a breath. He didn’t believe me. He never believes me. So I pulled out the only weapon I had left. I swore the kind of oath you don’t walk back from. “I swear on our mother’s grave, on my life, on your life, on Savannah’s life—” His entire face shifted. His breathing faltered. “And on your unborn child’s life, I never laid a hand on your wife. I never knew what she looked like without her clothes on. I never took her to bed. I didn’t get her pregnant. I didn’t betray you. I didn’t ruin your marriage.” There was silence. Not calm silence. The kind of silence that precedes destruction. Roman’s voice was low. “How dare you speak her name like that. How dare you put Savannah and my child's life on your tongue. Have you lost your goddamn mind?” I took a step forward. “Yes. I’ve lost my mind. Because you refuse to see what’s right in front of you.” My voice cracked like a whip. “Our father likely murdered your wife. That is the truth. I did not get her pregnant. But he sure as hell knows who did. He knows why she wanted to leave. And you’re too fucking blind to ask why!” Roman’s face went blank. Not shocked. Blank. The kind of blank that meant the world had just knocked his soul out of his body. “Don’t,” he said quietly. “Don’t try to drag him into your mess. I hate our father but don’t you dare put this on anyone else. Don’t dodge this. You want to talk about the past? Fine.” His lips curled. “Explain to me why I found messages between you and Dahlia. Messages planning to kill me if I ever found out the child she was carrying wasn’t mine.” My heart stopped. Literally stopped beating for a second. “What?” “I found chats,” he continued. “Between you and Dahlia. Talking about how the baby was yours and not mine. Talking about leaving. Talking about killing me if I ever found out the child wasn’t mine.”My stomach dropped. Everything inside me went silent. Like someone flipped the switch. “What?” I whispered. My voice wasn’t loud this time. It wasn’t even steady. “Roman, what the fuck are you talking about?” Roman stepped closer, voice shaking with betrayal. “You told her you would handle me. That you would make sure I ‘never stood in your way again.’ You told her you’d protect her if I became a threat. You told her you’d take care of the baby. You told her—” He held my gaze. “You two planned to get rid of me,” he said quietly. “Together. I've known for years, Reese. So now, I'd love to hear your explanation for that betrayal.” And for the first time tonight—I had nothing to say. Not because I was guilty. But because someone had placed the knife in my hand and waited for me to notice the blood.