LOGIN22. TianaThe room fell quiet after my words and Roman's gaze drills into me.I also remembered his words, “you deserve someone who chooses you the first time.”They echoed inside my chest long after he stopped speaking.I stood in the middle of the room staring at him, at the man who somehow managed to make me feel seen when everyone else spent years looking straight through me.My throat tightened unexpectedly and Roman noticed immediately and his expression softened."Tiana?"I swallowed hard as his eyes searched mine carefully as if he sensed something important was happening.I lifted my hand and rested it against his chest. The steady rhythm beneath my palm grounded me instantly.For years I spent my life being what everyone needed: a good daughter, a good wife, a responsible woman. I have always been someone useful, someone dependable, someone who endured but standing here with Roman...I didn't feel useful I felt wanted and the difference nearly shattered me."Hey."His voice
21. TianaThe knock came again and it was loud and sharp this time and dangerously close.We both froze instantly and for one horrible second neither of us moved.Roman's hand remained tangled in my hair and my fingers still gripped the front of his shirt.The kiss died between us as another knock sounded."Tiana!"Genova… again. What was with him this morning?My stomach dropped again."Oh God."Roman exhaled slowly against my forehead."He has terrible timing."I stared at him."You're joking right now?""A little.""Roman."The knock came again more impatient this time."Tiana, open the door."Panic exploded through me immediately because unlike earlier, Roman wasn't hidden in the bathroom he was standing in the middle of my room looking entirely too comfortable and entirely not guilty."Bathroom," I hissed.Roman raised an eyebrow."Again?""Now."The amusement on his face nearly drove me insane. Still, he finally relented and disappeared into the bathroom.I barely waited for the
20. TianaGenova rubbed a hand over his jaw tiredly.“You’re acting cold.”I blinked at him slowly wondering if he said cold to me. The irony almost hurt.“You introduced other women into our marriage,” I say and his expression hardened instantly and he's out of words, “and somehow I’m the cold one?”“That’s not what I said.”“It’s exactly what you implied because you are already used to blaming me for everything including your shortcoming.”Silence stretched between us and Genova looked strangely unsettled suddenly like this conversation wasn’t going the way he expected.Maybe he thought I would cry, beg or compete harder for his attention but instead I stood there emotionally exhausted and deeply done and I think that scared him more.His gaze dragged slowly over my face again lingering and searching.“You’ve changed.”The words came quieter this time and dangerously observant.My stomach tightened because he was right. Something had changed and part of me feared he could somehow se
19. TianaThe loud bang against my door ripped me out of sleep instantly and my entire body jerked violently and I groaned in annoyance.For one disoriented second, I didn’t understand where I was then warmth tightened around my waist.Roman.Then memory crashed back immediately… his arms around me, the guest room, falling asleep in his embrace…Another hard knock slammed against the door.“Tiana!”Genova. He was banging at the door and for a moment, I wondered if we had remembered to lock it from the inside.Pure panic flooded through me.“Oh my God!”Roman barely moved behind me as he continued sleeping. His arm remained draped lazily across my stomach while his breathing stayed calm against the back of my neck.Meanwhile my heart nearly exploded out of my chest.“Tiana!” Genova called again, louder this time. “Open the door!”I scrambled upright so fast the blanket tangled around my legs. Roman finally opened one eye slowly.“You look terrified.”“Because I am terrified,” I whisper
18. Asena I cried until my chest hurt, until breathing became uneven… until my head throbbed painfully from holding everything in too long. Roman never once told me to stop and that somehow undid me more than anything else. Most people became uncomfortable around tears. They rushed to silence them, fix them or dismiss them like my mother but Roman simply held me like he understood that some pain needed to leave before it destroyed you from the inside. My face stayed buried against his chest while his hand moved slowly through my hair gently in a way I wasn’t used to. Eventually my crying weakened into quiet trembling breaths and exhaustion settled heavily into my bones afterward. The kind that went deeper than physical tiredness. I stayed curled against him without moving and neither of us spoke for a while. The room felt strangely peaceful despite everything. Soft yellow light spilled from the bedside lamp across the room. The rain outside tapped quietly against the windows, l
17. TianaRoman said nothing while I cried.Not the fake comforting things people usually said, not calm down, not the don’t cry… nothing.He simply held me tighter every time another broken breath escaped me and somehow, that hurt more because kindness felt unfamiliar to me.I stayed curled against him for what felt like forever, breathing unevenly while his hand moved slowly through my hair and back.Eventually the crying weakened into silence… embarrassing and humiliating silence.I wiped my face quickly before pulling back slightly.“Sorry,” I whispered automatically.Roman’s brows pulled together instantly.“For what?”I looked away.“For… this.”“This?” He repeated quietly.I gestured vaguely toward myself.“The breakdown.”Something dark crossed his face.“You think that was something you need to apologize for?”My throat tightened.“I just…”“No.”The firmness in his voice startled me then he tilted my chin toward him gently.“You didn’t do anything wrong.”The words hit me ha







