The Wild Virgin (HER POV) のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 41 - チャプター 50

Several minutes had passed, and Ram still hadn’t said a word. Neither had I.The silence wasn’t just silence anymore, it was a living, breathing thing, coiled around my throat, squeezing until it hurt to breathe. It was heavier than any fight we’d ever had, heavier than the truth itself. My emotions boiled inside me, twisting and clawing, desperate to escape. But there was no release, not here. Not with him. I didn’t even know how to make him speak to me anymore, or if I even wanted to hear what his voice would sound like now.Eventually, the exhaustion of standing there, waiting like a fool, consumed me. My knees wobbled, my chest heaving with a weight I couldn’t put down. My legs trembled as I forced myself forward, toward the bed. The bed where Ram most likely had just shared an intimate moment with another woman.A sharp, strangled breath escaped me. My fingers trembled as they brushed against the thick sheets, the cool fabric burning my skin like fire. I imagined the scene I hadn

I couldn’t stop smiling. It was ridiculous, really, my cheeks already ached, but it felt impossible to stop. Something deep inside me kept tugging at the corners of my lips, lifting them into a grin I couldn’t hide no matter how hard I tried. From the moment I stepped into the restaurant that morning, I’d been wearing the same stupidly cheerful expression, and now even my coworkers were starting to notice.“Hey, wow,” Karen called out from behind the counter, arching a brow at me with playful suspicion. “Isn’t your mouth getting sore from all that smiling? What’s going on? Did you win the lottery? Are you secretly rich now?”I laughed softly, tying my apron tighter as I shook my head. “Nothing. Just having a good morning, don’t mind me, people.”A few heads turned in my direction, my coworkers exchanging curious glances, but I wasn’t about to explain myself. It wasn’t last night that had me glowing like this, though, God, that had been something else. What kept me floating through the

I woke up earlier than usual, my heart light and restless with excitement. The room was still dipped in the soft gray of dawn, that delicate hour when the world feels like it’s still half-dreaming, but my pulse was already awake beneath my skin.Today would be the first time Ram would be coming with me to my check-up, and somehow, that small, ordinary thing made my pulse skip, a quiet thrill coursing through my chest.It was ridiculous, really, the way my joy could swell over something so ordinary. But that was the thing about Ram, he had this way of turning the simplest days into small, shimmering miracles.By six, the kitchen had come alive, bathed in the scent of butter, sugar, and vanilla. Sunlight streamed through the window in lazy ribbons, catching in the fine dusting of flour that hung in the air. Two dishes cooled by the sill, and I was lost somewhere between my second and third batch of cupcakes, unplanned, unnecessary, yet utterly unstoppable.The whisk moved in hypnotic ci

I asked to be dropped off at my family’s old house in Asheville. The ride felt endless, every kilometer stretching like a thread pulling me farther from the city I had just fled, from the man whose face I couldn’t stop seeing no matter how hard I tried. Rain misted against the car windows, blurring the world outside into watercolor streaks of gray and green.When we finally turned into the narrow street that led to the house, my chest tightened. The place stood quietly at the end of the lane, its walls kissed by creeping vines and memories I thought I’d long outgrown. I told Roberto to go straight back to the city and not to tell Ram where I was. My tone carried a quiet finality that even he dared not challenge. He hesitated, concern flickering across his lined face, but after a moment he nodded, tipped his hat, and drove away.For a long time, I simply stood there. The silence of the house wrapped around me like an old shawl, comforting and heavy at once. The air smelled faintly of r

When I woke the next morning, the first thing I felt wasn’t the sunlight slipping past the curtains or the gentle hum of the countryside outside, it was warmth. The tender, unhurried kind that seeps through your skin and anchors you in a place between dreaming and waking.Soft kisses grazed my cheek, then my jaw, then trailed lower, skimming across my neck and shoulder in a rhythm that made me shiver despite the morning heat. I let out a quiet hum before I even opened my eyes. I didn’t need to look to know who it was. That steady breath against my skin, the faint tickle of stubble, the scent of soap and something purely him, only Ram could make waking up feel like falling into a dream I never wanted to end.A smile tugged at my lips. “Good morning,” I murmured, my voice rough from sleep as I blinked up at him. He was watching me, his hair a soft mess, his eyes still heavy with drowsiness. For a moment, the whole world seemed to still around us, just me, him, and the quiet heartbeat of