Chloe gasped—a small, broken sound. I barely heard it, but it was enough to keep going. “I remember everything,” I whispered. “The smell of his desk polish. The coldness of his wedding ring pressing into my hip. Every rotten word he said and laughed about. I can still remember how I reeked of him the entire day. I couldn’t wash him off for days. For weeks.” Roman tugged me gently. “Baby…that’s enough.” But I wasn’t done. But I wasn’t finished. Not until the truth was out. Not until she understood that I had carried this alone for too long. “Then I found out I was pregnant,” I said, voice trembling hard enough to shake my whole body. “Yes, just like you accused me. I got pregnant for Kingston. But not because I loved him. Not because I was trying to break up a marriage. Not because I was dumb, stupid or reckless.” My chest heaved. Tears blurred everything. “I got pregnant because the man I trusted violated me. Because no one believed me. Because I was alone and terrified. People called me a liar, a homewrecker, a slut. I was humiliated, Chloe. I was slapped. I was screamed at. I was told to keep my mouth shut and give the truth a new definition.” I shook my head fiercely. “So forgive me if I refuse to let you take away the tiny bit of peace and joy I’ve managed to build in my life now.” “Savannah, that’s enough,” Roman hissed, stepping closer, his voice tight with anger. “You don’t owe her a damn explanation.” He glared past me at Chloe, protective and furious. Chloe tucked her hair behind her ear, refusing to meet my eyes. Her voice came out thin, uncertain. “I… didn’t know you went through all that. That wasn't what I heard.” she whispered. “I’m… sorry you had to. No one deserves that. No one should ever go through that.” Her words should’ve felt like relief, but instead they felt bittersweet—half-formed and still wrapped in doubt. Her mind was so poisoned, so manipulated, that even now she was unsure whether to believe me or the lies she’d been fed. I swallowed hard. If she couldn’t believe me… then she needed the one person she couldn’t deny. So I played my final card. “If you can’t believe me,” I said quietly, “then talk to Mom. She knows the truth, Chlo Chlo. She’s the only other person who knows everything. Come home. Let her tell you herself. She’s been desperate to see you again.” That broke something in her. The dam inside her crumbled all at once. “No,” she choked out, backing away a step. “I can’t. She’s not going to—” Her voice cracked. Before she could finish, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her. She stiffened immediately then the next second she began fighting me like a wildcat. “No! Let go of me! Savannah, stop—stop! Don’t touch me!” Her words were muffled by her sobs. Her fists beat weakly against my arms. Roman moved forward instantly, trying to pull me away from Chloe. “Savannah, enough. You’re pregnant, she's going to hurt you.” I held tighter. “No,” I whispered fiercely. “She won’t.” Chloe kept struggling, her voice raw. “Don’t touch me! I hate you! I hate you so much!” “Then hate me,” I said through tears, holding her as tightly as I dared. “But I’m not letting you go. You’re my sister.” Her strength gave out, and she crumpled to the floor, dragging me down with her. She collapsed fully against me, hands fisting in my shirt, sobbing with the kind of grief and exhaustion only someone who had been carrying too much for too long could produce. “He ruined my life,” she cried, voice cracking open. “He took so much from me.” “I know,” I whispered against her hair. “But that doesn’t have to ruin the rest of your life. Come home, Chloe. Please. Mom wants to see you before she dies. She misses you. Everyone’s worried. Even Dean.” Her sobs slowly quieted into soft hiccups. She sniffed, trembling. “I tried to get back at him,” she whispered. “At Dean.” I nodded softly. “I know.” “He betrayed me,” she cried. “He humiliated me. He was just like Kingston.” The truth burned at the back of my throat—she had started that entire storm—but this wasn’t the moment to fight. Not now. Not when she was breaking open in my arms. “That bastard, Dean, turned against me.” She continued. My jaw clenched. She was wrong—so wrong. She had started the entire mess herself. She had manipulated Dean first. But looking at her—broken, exhausted, hurting—I pushed my own anger down. This wasn’t the moment. There would be time for truth later. Right now she needed a place to collapse. “Come home,” I murmured again. “Face Mom. Let her explain everything. She’ll believe you. She believes me now. She’s different.” A small, shaky laugh left me. “We’re all different.” Chloe lifted her head slowly, her eyes swollen and wet. “But… Asher. He’s dead. And there’s no way Mom will believe I was defiled without Asher confessing the truth. No way she’ll think I wasn’t lying.” “She’ll believe you,” I promised. “And Asher…” I looked back at Roman, then met her eyes again. “If Roman hadn’t killed him for touching me, I would have stabbed him myself for what he did to you.” Chloe’s head snapped toward Roman so fast I winced. Her eyes widened. “You… you killed him?” she whispered, voice trembling. Roman didn’t blink. He simply nodded once. Chloe turned to Paula, eyes shining with stunned realization. “Guess you were wrong.” ~~~~~~~ Chapter 199: Proceed With Caution Savannah The room felt too small and too thick with tension to breathe properly. I looked between Chloe and Paula, both of them staring at me like I’d interrupted a conversation I wasn’t meant to hear. “Wrong about what?” I asked, my voice embarrassingly thin with confusion. “Paula believed that Kingston had probably tried to assault another innocent girl,” Chloe murmured, almost like she was reciting a written speech. “And she fought back fiercely. That’s why it was a crime of passion.” For a moment, Chloe and I stayed on the floor together. She was still clinging to me, fingers trembling where they clutched my shirt, body heaving from the emotional collapse she’d just had. And then—it was like someone flipped a switch. “Chloe. Come here.” Paula said. No warmth. No hesitation. Just a command. Chloe detached from me instantly, like I’d suddenly become toxic to touch. She got up and went straight to Paula’s side, resuming the exact posture she’d held earlier. Staring at it critically now, it looked submissive in a way that made my stomach twist. I stayed kneeling on the floor, staring till Roman’s hand closed around my arm. “Get up, my love.” His voice was low but tight, threaded with something dangerous. “Come on. Get up from the floor.” He pulled me to my feet. I dusted off my jeans, never taking my eyes off the two women pressed so close to each other like I was the intruder here. Paula’s hand was still on Chloe’s shoulder… too firm, too claiming. Roman saw it too. I felt the tension radiating off him, sharp enough for me to know that he'd been holding back for so long. And sooner or later, he'd reach his limit. Roman would explode. I swallowed. If anyone needed to say something, it was me. And if I didn’t, Roman definitely would—in the most disastrous way possible. “So, Chloe…” I said carefully, gesturing to Paula. “Are you ever going to introduce us properly?” Chloe glanced at Paula first. Only after Paula gave a tiny nod did she look at me. “That’s Paula,” she said. “But you can also call her Lydia.” Roman didn’t bother with patience. “And what the hell is she to you?” he snapped. “Why are you hiding out here with her? Where is Zane? Do you even know this girl has a criminal record? She’s an ex-convict!” Chloe flinched. “Excuse you? You’re the one to speak on someone’s past? Huh, Roman? The hypocrisy stinks!” Roman’s laugh was humorless. “And your naivety and poor choices will be your undoing. Mark my words. How can you stay here? Hiding out while the world burns? All for what? Drugs? To fake a case? You need help. You need therapy. You’re out of your mind.” “I don’t need help! You don’t know anything, Roman!” “And I don’t care to know.” His grip tightened on my hand until it nearly hurt. “Savannah might care what happens to you even after every stunt you’ve pulled to tear her and us apart, but I don’t. Whether you live or not isn’t of any importance to me. I don’t care if you end up dead in a ditch by morning. Does that make it clearer now?” The air was sucked out of the room. There it was. Everything he'd been bottling up since we got here was finally out. Paula surged forward, bristling. “Why would you say that to her? You’re a bully! Picking on a girl half your size?!” Roman didn’t even flinch. His eyes didn’t shift. “Touch me and I will break your arm. Proceed with caution, junkie.” “Roman!” I gasped. “Stop it!” But Paula lunged anyway. I stepped between them and shoved her back with a little more force than necessary. “Stay away from him! Don't you dare touch him!” Chloe caught her, eyes glossy with tears and fury. And then—she glared at Roman like she wanted to burn him alive. “I hate you,” she whispered. “The feeling is mutual,” Roman replied coldly.