From Best Friend To Fiancé (Savannah and Roman) novel Chapter 452

Chapter 452

Chapter 255: The Model Husband

Savannah

Alex must’ve noticed the way my shoulders curled inward, the way

my hand hovered protectively over my stomach.

“Alright,” he said suddenly, clapping his hands once. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” I asked weakly.

“Outside. Before you pass out or stab someone. Reese–come on.” He

hooked an arm around my shoulders, steering me gently away. “Let’s

go for a smoke.”

“I don’t smoke,” I protested automatically.

He snorted. “Yeah, I know. Of course you don’t. I wasn’t talking to

you,”

Reese shook his head but followed as Alex led us through the manor.

The walk felt endless.

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Down the grand staircase, past long corridors lined with portraits

that seemed to watch me, through heavy doors and into the night air.

The grounds of Blackwood Manor stretched out before us-

immaculate lawns, stone paths, the sound of water from the fountain

at the center of the courtyard.

It was beautiful. And yet, terrifying.

Men stood stationed along the perimeter, dressed in dark suits,

earpieces snug against their jaws, weapons outlined beneath their

jackets. They moved with purpose, with awareness. Like predators

guarding territory.

I stopped a little distance away as Reese and Alex lit their cigarettes.

Smoke curled into the cool night air. Silence settled between us.

Then Alex glanced at me. “Alright,” he said casually. “What the hell

was that with Ryan?”

My pulse spiked.

I opened my mouth, ready–ready–to finally say it. To tell someone.

To explain why I’d done what I’d done.

Then Ryan’s voice echoed in my head.

Chapter 452

If you care about yourself–or that baby–you’ll forget everything you

think you know.

Fear clamped down hard.

“N–nothing,” I said quickly. “It was nothing.”

Reese’s head snapped toward me.

Alex raised a brow. “Nothing usually doesn’t involve strangulation.”

“I just ” My voice faltered. “It was a misunderstanding.”

Before I could say anything else, Reese cut in flatly. “She threatened

him.”

I froze.

Alex turned slowly toward his brother. “She what?”

Reese didn’t look at me. “Savannah’s sister–Alyssa, I believe that’s her name–has a child for Ryan. A daughter named Emily. I saw the kid in New Hope.”

The words hung in the air. There was silence in the air.

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Then Alex barked out a laugh.

A real one. A loud, shocked and uncontrollable laughter. He bent

forward slightly, cigarette between his fingers, laughing into the

night like he’d just been told the best joke of the year.

“No shit,” he said between laughs. “Ryan? Knocked someone up and

hid it from the family? That is–wow. So he really doesn’t shoot

blanks.” He wiped at his eyes. “I did not have that on my bingo card.

Damn!”

I stared at him, stunned.

“He actually did some real street nonsense,” Alex continued, shaking

his head. “Our dear brother, the model husband and son. God, he

must be losing his mind.”

Reese shot him a look. “It’s not funny.”

Alex straightened, still smirking. “It’s a little funny, Actually… It’s a

lot funny. Admit it, Reese.”

Reese rolled his eyes. I remembered vaguely how Reese had laughed

when he found out too.

Reese turned to me then, his expression sharp. “Are you stupid,” he

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asked bluntly, “or just reckless?”

My chest tightened. “Excuse me?”

“You’re pregnant,” he said. “Roman is in a coma. And you thought

picking a fight with Ryan was smart?”

“I wasn’t picking a fight,” I snapped, finding my voice at last. “I was

standing up for my sister. For my niece.”

“And that’s worth dying for?” Reese countered.

“Yes. No.” I said without thinking. “Family matters to me.”

He studied me for a long moment, then shook his head slowly. “You

don’t know the full story.”

“What story?” I demanded. “That he abandoned them? That he-”

“You say it like he forced her,” Reese interrupted. “He didn’t rape het.

He didn’t coerce her. Whatever happened between Ryan and Alyssa

was consensual. Don’t twist the picture.”

The words hit me like a slap.

“He told her to abort,” Reese continued calmly. “He told her to get rid

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of the pregnancy. She didn’t. She hid it. She chose to keep the child

without telling him.”

“That doesn’t make him innocent,” I said weakly.

“No,” Reese agreed. “But it makes him the one who was deceived. The

one who was wronged. Not her.”

I shook my head, my thoughts spinning. “You’re defending him

because he’s your brother.”

“I’m stating facts,” he replied. “Ryan was played. He was the one

wronged.”

Alex let out a low whistle. “Damn.”

I looked at him, incredulous. “And you… you’re just… okay with this?”

He shrugged. “I’m entertained.”

“That’s sick. You don’t take anything serious, do you?.”

He grinned. “Yeah. Probably.”

I hugged myself as a chill crept over me. The night air felt colder now.

I noticed the guards again, the way they moved silently along the

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perimeter.

This place wasn’t just guarded like a house. It was guarded like a

fortress.

Alex flicked his cigarette away. “By the way,” he added casually, “his

middle name is Joseph. He hates it with a passion.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Big Joe,” he said, winking. “Makes him snap. I love that.”

I swallowed hard.

Then Reese spoke again. “Father wants to see me tomorrow. Do you

know why?”

Alex turned to him. “No. Why?”