From Best Friend To Fiancé (Savannah and Roman) novel Chapter 121

**TITLE: Dreams Folding Into Broken Time**
**Chapter 78: Another Name**

Savannah

The moment Roman’s words pierced the air, I recoiled as if they had seared my very soul. My fingers instinctively tangled in my hair, pulling at it in a desperate attempt to ground myself in the present, hoping that the physical pain would tether me to reality.

“That’s not true!” I shouted, my voice rising unnaturally high, sounding more like a frenzied plea than a confident assertion. It felt as though I was trying to convince myself more than him. Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I softened my tone, drawing upon the years I had spent defending Chloe. “Chloe’s a yoga instructor. A ballet teacher. She’s constantly being flown to LA because of her clients, the gigs she books. Mom and Dad beam with pride because she chose a challenging path, a field that isn’t mainstream, and still made a name for herself. She’s a good person. She’s… she’s a role model for so many.”

The words tumbled from my lips like bricks cascading from a crumbling wall, and I cringed at how rehearsed they sounded. It felt as though I was reciting lines from a script rather than expressing genuine feelings.

Roman stood before me, unfazed by my practiced defense. His gaze was unwavering, heavy with an intensity that seemed to see right through the fragile facade I was desperately trying to uphold. It was as if he could sense the threads of my composure unraveling, one by one.

“Savannah,” he said, his voice low and steady, each word laced with the weight of a verdict, “you know I’m telling the truth.”

A knot twisted tightly in my stomach, a cold dread pooling within me. “Don’t do that.”

“I didn’t know her as Chloe back then.” His jaw tightened, and I could taste the bitterness in his words. “She went by another name. Blondie.”

The name struck me like a freight train, leaving me breathless and reeling. Blondie. The name Roman had always used to silence her, the whispers I had tried so hard to ignore.

The silence stretched between us, growing deafening, an unbearable tension that begged for release.

My expression contorted, a whirlwind of emotions—shock, disgust, and grief—colliding within me. I gasped for air, as if the very atmosphere were clawing at my throat, conspiring against me.

“You’re telling me…” My voice cracked violently, splintering under the weight of my disbelief. “…that my sister—my sister, Chloe—sold herself to you?”

“What? No. She wasn’t mine, Savannah.” Roman’s words rushed out, defensive and sharp. “It wasn’t like that. It was business. Formal. Transactional. Nothing compared to—”

“Stop.” The word lashed out of me like a whip, my eyes blazing with unspent tears. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare compare me to that. Don’t you dare put me in the same breath as what you did with her.”

“Sav—”

“No!” I interrupted, slicing through the air between us with my palm, trembling but resolute. “You hired women like they were jewelry, and my sister was one of them. And now you expect me to just stand here and—what? Swallow it down? Pretend it doesn’t shatter me into pieces that you had such a level of intimacy with my sister?”

His voice cracked in response, sharp and defensive. “I never slept with her. Whatever happened, happened a long time ago.”

The words struck me sideways, leaving me momentarily stunned.

“I only hired her for one event,” he continued, his tone clipped, laced with shame. “Months later, just before you told me about her wedding, I ran into her again. She had nowhere to stay, so I let her crash in my suite. Nothing happened. Not then. Not after. I haven’t seen her since until I saw her here.” He paused, searching my eyes for understanding. “What happened before was a mistake, Sav. A mistake I would erase if I could.”

A bitter laugh clawed its way out of me, jagged and raw. “Oh, should I clap then? Throw you a goddamn parade because you only let her get on her knees for you the first time?”

My words sliced through the air like knives, sharper than any slap. I wanted them to wound him, to leave a mark as deep as the one his confession had carved into me.

Roman paused, his lips parting as if I had struck him harder than I intended. But instead of anger, a raw vulnerability seeped into his voice.

“Savannah…” His tone broke, quiet and pleading, fragile as glass. “It meant nothing. She meant nothing. You’re the only one who—”

“Don’t.” My voice splintered, breaking under the weight of tears that finally escaped. They streamed down my cheeks, hot and furious, as if they had been waiting years for this moment to betray me. “Don’t you dare say I’m the only one. I can’t even breathe right now, Roman. I can’t…”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify