Chapter 3 - The Message That Made Roman Stop Breathing
Three miles away, Roman Kane’s black sedan cut through rain-soaked roads toward the estate.
His driver, Martin, would later remember the exact moment Roman’s phone vibrated.
Roman glanced down.
The message came from Elena, the housekeeper.
Your wife is outside.
Only four words.
But Roman stopped breathing.
“What is it?” Martin asked.
Roman did not answer.
He called Bianca.
No response.
Again.
No response.
His voice changed.
“Drive faster.”
Martin pressed harder on the accelerator.
Roman called the estate security office.
No answer.
He called Celeste.
Her phone rang twice.
Then she answered.
“Roman,” she said calmly. “Why are you calling so late?”
“Put Bianca on the phone.”
A pause.
“She is resting.”
“Put her on the phone.”
“She had an emotional episode.”
Roman went still.
“What did you do?”
Celeste laughed softly.
“You always assume the worst of me.”
Roman’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Mother.”
“Your wife does not belong in this family. Tonight, I simply reminded her.”
The line went dead.
Roman stared at the phone.
Then he said something Martin had never heard from him before.
Not an order.
Not a threat.
A prayer.
“Please let her be alive.”
When the gates of the Kane estate came into view, Roman saw me before the car stopped.
I was standing in the middle of the driveway.
Barefoot.
Rain-soaked.
My dress clinging to my body.
My hair hacked off so unevenly that I barely recognized myself.
One hand pressed to my belly.
The other held against the gate as if the iron was the only thing keeping me upright.
Roman opened the car door before Martin fully stopped.
“Bianca!”
I heard him.
I tried to turn toward him.
Then my knees gave out.
Roman caught me before I hit the stone.
For a second, I could not speak.
I only felt his arms around me. His coat covering my shoulders. His face against the top of my head.
Then he saw what Celeste had done.
The rain kept falling.
But Roman went completely still.
“Who did this?” he asked.
I could not answer.
He looked toward the mansion.
Behind the tall glass doors, his mother stood in the foyer.
Watching.
Roman carried me into the house.
Not like a possession.
Not like a trophy.
Like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.
“Call Dr. Shah,” he ordered. “Now.”
Then he looked at the guards.
“Lock every exit. No one leaves.”
Celeste stepped forward.
“Roman, she is exaggerating.”
Roman turned toward her.
I had seen him angry before.
I had seen him cold.
But I had never seen his face empty of everything except control.
“You cut her hair,” he said.
Celeste lifted her chin. “She is unstable. She provoked—”
Roman’s voice broke through hers.
“You threw my pregnant wife into a storm.”
“She is not suitable for this family.”
Roman looked down at me.
Then back at Celeste.
“She is my family.”
No one moved.
Celeste’s eyes flashed. “You would choose her over me?”
May you like
Roman’s answer came immediately.
“Yes.”
