From Best Friend To Fiancé (Savannah and Roman) novel Chapter 72

**TITLE: Dreams Folding Into Broken Time**

I couldn’t suppress the broad grin that spread across my face. As I cast a sideways glance at Chloe, I found her already staring intently at me, her gaze sharp enough to pin me against the wall.

She was the first to break the eye contact, looking away with a huff.

“We’ve only got a few days left in New Hope,” she said, her tone slightly wistful. “Then it’s back to Philly for us.” I shifted my legs, angling them toward Roman, who sat across from me, lowering my voice conspiratorially.

“Maybe we can claim irreconcilable differences as the reason for our breakup and the end of the engagement,” I suggested, half-joking, but with a hint of seriousness.

“No,” Roman replied without hesitation, his voice firm. “People will see right through that lie. It’s been overused to the point of becoming a cliché.”

I nodded, conceding his point. “Alright, how about we say that our demanding schedules and professional lives pulled us apart? We simply didn’t have any time for ourselves after returning, and we were thrown right back into work mode. That should suffice.”

His eyes locked onto mine, piercing and serious. “No. My family will see through that lie too. Especially now that Ryan has spilled the beans to all of them.”

“Your family?” I blinked in surprise. “Wait, you actually have one of those?” My shock was palpable, and I couldn’t hide it.

“Unfortunately, yes. Everyone has a family, don’t they?”

His words were deceptively mundane, yet they carried an unexpected weight. In the five years I had known Roman, this was the first time he had even hinted at the existence of his family. He never traveled home for the holidays, never spoke of parents or siblings.

I had only learned about his brother three days ago, and that revelation had been completely accidental.

A wave of curiosity washed over me, rising like steam from a boiling pot.

I found myself pondering what else he might be concealing and why he felt the need to keep so much of his life hidden from me—and from the world at large.

“I’m just surprised, that’s all. You’ve never brought them up before,” I said, my gaze drifting toward Lizzie and Alyssa, who were still engrossed in whatever was playing on the screen.

“They weren’t worth mentioning,” he muttered, his tone flat. “But now, they’ve barged in uninvited.”

I could sense a shift in him, a subtle tension that felt like a string pulled too tight. His fingers curled into a fist before they relaxed against his thigh.

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