Chapter 40

Chapter 40
Avah's pov
The moment her lips touched his forehead, my vision blurred.
I wasn’t sure if it was from unshed tears or the sheer weight of realization crashing down on me like a tidal wave. My fingers trembled at my sides, my breaths turning shallow, uneven.
They looked so perfect together.
Roman, with his easy smile, his relaxed posture, his full attention on her. Selene, leaning in, confident, belonging. Like she never left. Like she was right where she was meant to be.
And me?
I was the stranger watching from the shadows. The outsider. The third wheel in my own marriage.
The air in the hotel suddenly felt too thick, suffocating me. My feet moved before I could think, carrying me out, away, anywhere but here. The cold night air hit me as I stepped outside, but it did nothing to cool the fire burning inside my chest.
Roman had promised me.
He had promised he would take care of me, that I was his future. That I was his.
Were his words useless?
Did they carry no weight at all?
A sharp sob clawed at my throat, but I swallowed it down, refusing to break. Not here. Not now. I walked. One step, then another. The pavement stretched before me, empty and endless, mirroring the hollowness spreading inside me.
I didn’t know where I was going, only that I couldn’t stop.
The city lights blurred past me, the distant hum of traffic filling the silence between my thoughts. My hands clenched into fists as I tried to shake off the aching betrayal sinking into my bones.
"Ma’am!" My driver’s voice rang out behind me, but I ignored it.
"Ma’am, please, where are you going?" He sounded nervous now, his hurried footsteps following mine.
But I couldn’t answer.
I didn’t feel like myself.
I felt like a ghost of the woman I was before stepping into that hotel. Before seeing what I was never meant to see.
The woman Roman had loved was unraveling, piece by piece, left behind in the footprints I scattered along the cold, empty streets.
"Mrs. Roman, please!"
The desperation in my driver’s voice barely registered. The world around me felt distant, as if I were watching everything from the other side of a glass wall. My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out everything but the crushing weight in my chest.
I kept walking. Faster.
I didn’t want to feel this. I didn’t want to acknowledge the way my heart had just been ripped apart in that hotel lobby. The way my stomach twisted every time I replayed the scene in my mind. Roman’s easy smile, the warmth in his eyes and the way he didn’t move away.
I turned a corner, my breath coming out in uneven gasps.
How had this happened? When had he started drifting away from me?
No....when had I started losing him?
The worst part was that I knew something had changed. That quiet, nagging feeling had been whispering in my mind for weeks, but I had ignored it, convincing myself that I was overthinking things. That I was just being insecure.
You should’ve listened.
A sharp pang shot through my chest, and I stopped walking, my body stiff as I tried to collect myself. My hands curled into fists, nails digging into my palms, trying to ground myself.
I couldn’t keep running.
I turned my head slightly, catching a glimpse of my driver standing a few feet away, watching me with uncertainty. He looked…worried.
Because I wasn’t acting like myself.
Because I wasn’t myself.
Not anymore.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I took in a slow breath, willing my voice to be steady. "Take me home."
He nodded immediately, relief flashing across his face as he stepped forward to lead me back to the car.
I followed, but my mind was elsewhere, replaying everything over and over like a broken record.
Roman.
Selene.
That smile. That touch.
And then, like a cruel whisper, another thought slithered its way into my mind, making my stomach twist violently.
How many other times had this happened when I wasn’t looking?
The drive home was suffocating. The car felt too small, the silence too loud. I stared out the window, watching the city blur past, but my mind was still trapped in that hotel. Still frozen in the moment I saw her lips press against his forehead.
I had thought I was special. That I was the only one who got to be that close to him now.
But Selene had walked into his life like she belonged there, and the worst part? He had let her.
My chest felt tight, my fingers numb where they rested in my lap. I didn’t realize I was shaking until I curled my hands into fists again, trying to steady myself.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to storm into his office and demand to know what the hell he was doing behind my back.
But more than anything, I just wanted it to not be real.
The car slowed as we pulled up to the house...no, his house. The place that had once felt like my home now felt cold, unfamiliar. Like I was a guest. A stranger.
The driver opened the door for me, but I didn’t move right away. I stared at the entrance, my heart pounding against my ribs. Roman was probably still at the hotel. With her.
I should go inside, shower off the weight of this day, and sleep it all away. Pretend I didn’t see anything. Pretend I wasn’t falling apart.
But I couldn’t.
I got out, my movements slow and detached. As soon as I stepped inside, the emptiness of the house wrapped around me like a suffocating blanket. I kicked off my heels, not caring where they landed, and made my way to the kitchen.
I wasn’t hungry. I wasn’t thirsty. But I needed something, anything, to keep me from crumbling.
I reached for a glass and poured some water, gripping the edges so tightly my knuckles turned white.
How did it come to this?
How had I become this woman, standing alone in a house that didn’t feel like hers, wondering if her husband was betraying her?
I took a shaky breath, but it didn’t help. My throat still burned, my stomach still twisted in knots.
Then, for the first time that night, my eyes filled with tears.
And I let them fall.