Semua Bab The Man I Swore to Hate: Bab 31 - Bab 40

The estate grounds were too quiet. Too perfect.Sunlight filtered gently through the iron-wrought gates. The fountain babbled like nothing had happened—like the world hadn’t split in two and swallowed him whole.But I couldn’t breathe.Not with the silence. Not with the calm. Not with his absence screaming louder than the wind. So I ran.Through the rose garden. Past the statues. Down the manicured steps. Barefoot. Wrinkled shirt. Hair tangled from nights without sleep. I didn’t care who saw me. The staff. The guards. The press hidden behind tinted vans across the road. I didn’t care.“Perion!” My voice cracked as I stumbled to the front lawn, fists clenched at my sides. “Where are you?! You said you’d never leave me again!”No answer. Just the crows in the distance and the hum of summer heat.“You bastard!” I shouted, louder now. “You selfish, stupid bastard!”My scream ripped through the courtyard, raw and feral. I threw the watch he left me across the stones. It clattered against t

The morning after was too bright.Sunlight spilled through the slats of the blinds, painting lines across tangled sheets and bare skin. I stirred first. His arm was still draped over my waist, heavy with sleep and something more permanent. I didn’t move.Romero’s breath was warm against my neck, steady. Peaceful. Like he’d finally found the place he’d been aching to return to. I stared at the ceiling. I was still here. That should’ve meant something. To him, it probably did.I turned my head slowly. His lashes were dark against his cheek, lips slightly parted. He looked younger when he slept. Softer. Like the man he used to be, back before all of this—before I’d made a mess of both of us.I traced the edge of his jaw with my eyes, memorizing him. He didn’t flinch. His eyes opened, slowly. He looked at me, and there was no bitterness. Only a deep, aching kind of love. The kind that waited, even when it shouldn’t."How's my baby?" My body still ached in all the places he’d worshipped li

I found him on the veranda just before sunrise. The world was still asleep, the sky painted in hushed strokes of lavender and gray. Romero leaned against the railing, the sea below us churning like a restless secret. He didn’t turn when I stepped out.“You always wake up before the sun now?” I teased gently, wrapping the robe tighter around me.He shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”I moved closer, resting my hands on the banister beside his. “Are you okay?”He was quiet. Then said, “What did she say to you?”I hesitated. The truth sat heavy in my chest. “Nothing I didn’t already know.”His jaw tensed. At that, he turned. His eyes met mine, raw and furious and aching. “I’m sorry.”“She told me you were trouble. That you’d burn down everything I’ve worked for. She's the one who made you keep your distance from me before, right?” His voice was calm, but I could hear the storm behind it. “And when I asked her what she meant, she just smiled and said you’d already proved her right.”I swallowed h

The golden light of the setting sun spilled through the glass walls of the kitchen, casting warm shadows across the marble countertops. I stood barefoot, wearing one of his oversized button-down shirts—barely buttoned—sneaking strawberries from a porcelain bowl. Romero came up behind me, arms wrapping around my waist, his lips brushing the curve of my neck."Stealing from my private stash?" he murmured against my skin.I turned, a strawberry between my fingers. "Prove it’s yours."He took it from my hand slowly, deliberately, his mouth grazing my fingertips before he bit into it. Juice stained his lips, and he didn’t stop until he kissed me, tasting of sun-ripened fruit and something far more dangerous.His hands found the hem of the shirt. “You know this drives me crazy, right?”“And yet you haven’t taken it off,” I teased, breathless already.“Oh, I will.”Bookshelves stretched high above us, the scent of leather and old paper grounding us in a different kind of intimacy. He lifted

The city lights never looked so cold. The hum of traffic and distant chatter replaced the island’s crashing waves and warm breeze. Romero and I parted at the airport, the finality of it stabbing sharper than I expected.“I’ll call you later,” he said, forcing a smile.“Make sure you answer,” he added, his voice thick with everything we left unsaid.We walked away in opposite directions, the crowd swallowing us like we were just two strangers who happened to share a secret place. But I wasn’t ready to let go, not yet.My phone buzzed almost immediately, a message from Romero. “I love you.”Back in my condo, the silence was different. He wasn’t here to fill it. I closed the door behind me, dropping my bag with a sigh. The chill in the air was unexpected, but it wasn’t the AC. Before I could set my keys down, the sharp click of heels echoed down the hallway. I froze.“Carmenta.”The voice was like ice against my skin. Smooth, cold, and carrying all the weight of a storm.I turned slowly.