All Chapters of Stepdaughter by Day, Wife by Night: Chapter 191 - Chapter 200

LENABilly called again that afternoon.I was standing by the window, watching the sunlight stretch across the floor, turning the dust in the air into something almost beautiful. The house felt different with Roman back in it. Not warmer. Just fuller. Like a room where someone had returned but brought a storm with them.My phone vibrated in my hand.Billy.For a second, I considered not answering. I really did. But my thumb moved on its own, sliding across the screen before my brain could catch up.“Hi,” I said softly.“Hey, Lena,” Billy replied. His voice was careful, like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to be there. “I hope I’m not calling at a bad time.”“No,” I answered. “It’s okay.”There was a pause. “I was wondering… maybe we could have coffee? Just to talk. Or if you want, you could bring Isabella too.”The offer was gentle. No pressure. No expectation.My chest tightened.“I can’t,” I said after a moment. “Roman is back.”The silence on the other end was longer this time.“O

LENAI thought I wanted an explanation from Roman.For days, weeks, maybe months, I had convinced myself that if he just told me everything, if he just laid all the ugly truth on the table, things would finally make sense. That the chaos in my head would line up neatly once I knew the full story.But standing there alone after his confession, I realized something that scared me more than his lies.Something had been wrong from the very beginning.I had ignored it. No, worse—I had justified it. Wrapped it in love and called it fate.I told myself that love was supposed to hurt a little. That sacrifice was normal. That problems were temporary, and happiness was just waiting around the corner if I held on long enough.Since being with Roman, my life had been a series of storms. One after another. I kept telling myself they would end, that once we survived this one, everything would finally be okay.But they never ended.I was so busy trying to survive that I forgot to ask myself a more i

LENA On the way home, my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Vivian’s voice kept replaying in my head, calm and poisonous, like a song you can’t forget no matter how much you hate it. Her last words sat heavy in my chest, pressing down on every breath. There’s something you should know about the contract Roman signed. I didn’t know what scared me more—the word contract, or the way she smiled when she said it. Without really thinking, I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts. Ava’s name was there, glowing like a safe place. She would listen. She would rage with me. She would tell me I wasn’t crazy. But my finger moved past her name. Billy. I stared at it longer than I meant to. I didn’t even know what I expected from him. Comfort? Perspective? Distraction? Maybe I just wanted someone who wasn’t tangled in my life, someone who didn’t love Roman or hate Vivian. I pressed call before I could change my mind. “Lena?” Billy answered, his voice warm, familiar. “Is everything o

LENAI didn’t sleep that night.Even after the knock at the door turned out to be nothing more than a delivery mistake, even after Roman finished explaining what he could, my mind refused to rest. My body lay beside him, but my thoughts stayed far away, circling the same questions over and over like they were looking for an exit.When morning came, the light through the curtains felt too honest. It showed everything I was trying to hide.Roman was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers laced together. He looked like a man waiting for a verdict.I sat up slowly, pulling the blanket around me.“Roman,” I said quietly.He turned immediately, like he’d been waiting for his name. “Yes?”“I need time.”The words felt heavy coming out, but also relieving, like finally admitting something I’d been holding in too long.He nodded once, slowly. “I understand.”“I don’t know how to understand you again,” I continued. “Your leaving hurt. But you

LENAA month passed faster than I expected, yet slower than my heart could keep up with.If I had to describe Roman now, I would say he looked… lighter and heavier at the same time. Lighter because the weight of power was gone from his shoulders. He no longer had men in black suits trailing him everywhere, no hushed phone calls in the middle of the night, no assistants waiting outside his door. He dressed simply now. Plain shirts. Worn jeans. His watch was gone. The house felt quieter, emptier, almost like it was breathing again.He really did start from zero.One by one, the guards were dismissed. Not fired in anger or humiliation, but thanked, paid, and sent away. Roman personally walked some of them to the gate. I watched from the window the first time it happened, confused by the sight of my husband shaking hands with men who once bowed their heads to him.“I don’t need protection anymore,” he told me that night when I asked. “There’s nothing left to protect.”The words stayed wit