From Best Friend To Fiancé (Savannah and Roman) novel Chapter 470

Chapter 470

Chapter 266: Why Me?

Savannah

“I can’t believe that bastard had the nerve to actually run.”

The words tore out of me the moment the door shut behind us, sharp and ugly and vibrating with everything I hadn’t been able to say

since Calder dropped the bomb. My chest felt tight–too tight–like if I breathed wrong, something inside me would crack.

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River turned the lock with a soft click that sounded much louder than it should have, then leaned her back against the door as if she

expected someone to try to burst through it any second. “Who knows where he could be now?” she said quietly. “If my father helped him

disappear…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t have to.

Reese was sitting at the edge of the armchair near the window, phone in hand, thumb scrolling but his eyes clearly not seeing whatever

was on the screen. The light from outside caught his jaw just right, sharpening the line of it, making him look carved from stone. When

he finally looked up, his expression was dark.

“What’d he say?” Reese asked.

I crossed the room and dropped onto the edge of my bed, my legs suddenly feeling too weak to hold me up. The mattress dipped beneath my weight, grounding me just enough to keep from spiraling. “His name is Ezra. Apparently.” I laughed, but it came out brittle. “Calder said after I caught him… after everything, Reginald ‘relieved him of his duties.“”

River scoffed. “Relieved him.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And then clearly told him to run. He left the manor yesterday. Packed up and vanished like he was never here.”

Reese swore under his breath, pushing a hand through his hair. “So it really is him,” he muttered. “Father’s the one behind Roman staying

under this long.”

Silence settled.

I stared at my hands in my lap, fingers curled so tightly my knuckles had gone pale. “I don’t understand it,” I said quietly. “Why would he go that far? Keeping Roman sedated for a week. Risking permanent damage. Risking…” Aty voice cracked. “It’s terrifying. He’d rather have

a brain–dead son than a healthy one.”

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Chapter 470

She shrugged, pushing off the door and walking further into the room. “Think about it. Roman’s incapacitated. Reese is distracted. You’re

emotionally compromised.” Her eyes flicked to me briefly, apologetic but honest. “If Roman never wakes up, everything stays exactly

where our father wants it. Controlled. Frozen.”

Reese shook his head almost immediately. “No. That doesn’t track.” He stood, pacing now, restless energy radiating off him. “Ryan’s the

one managing everything. If Dad really wanted control, he’d be the one running things himself. He wouldn’t let Ryan anywhere near it.

There has to be something else.”

Then his eyes landed on me.

Not casually.

Not accidentally.

They practically stopped on me.

River noticed it too. Her gaze followed his, and suddenly I felt like I was standing under a spotlight I hadn’t agreed to.

“Why are you both looking at me like that?” I demanded. My stomach twisted uncomfortably. “What is it?”

Reese tilted his head slightly, studying me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. “River,” he said slowly, “are you thinking what I’m

thinking?”

River’s lips pressed together. She didn’t answer right away–just looked me up and down, her gaze clinical and very unsettling. Like I was

a puzzle piece being turned over.

“Might be,” she said finally. “Depends on what you’re thinking.”

A wave of nausea rolled through me so violently I had to press my palm flat against my stomach. “Okay, stop,” I said sharply. “That look?

Whatever this is? I hate it. What are you talking about?”

Reese didn’t hesitate. “What if you’re the one he wants?”

The words hit me like a slap.

I gagged, bile burning the back of my throat. “What?” I recoiled. “No. Ew. That’s disgusting, Reese, What the hell is wrong with you?”

“It makes sense,” Reese said, and that was the part that truly terrified me–not the words themselves, but the conviction behind them. “Think about it, Savannah. The shooting. The timing. Everything that’s happened. One way or another, he knew you’d never leave

Roman.”

“That’s your father,” I snapped. “And Roman’s. This is sick. Please stop.”

But Reese kept going.

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Chapter 470

“What if everything–everything–was just to get you here?” he said. “All the times he made it seem like he wanted you gone. Like you were a liability. Maybe that was just misdirection. A game. Because he knew you’d stay anyway.”

My hands flew up, covering my ears as if I could physically block out his voice. “Stop. Please.”

But the fear had already sunk its claws into me. Because the worst part? It made sense.

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The realization crept in slowly, like ice water seeping into my veins. Reginald had been the one who insisted Roman be moved here. He’d

been the one orchestrating everything, pulling strings quietly all along. And he’d known–known–that I would follow Roman anywhere.

Even to Blackwood Manor. Exactly where he wanted me.

My stomach twisted painfully.

“I’m not joking, Savannah,” Reese said softly now. “There’s truth in this. He sent me to bring you here once, remember? Lied about being

sick just to get you under this roof. For some sick, twisted reason… he just wants you here.”

I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. “But why?” I whispered. “Why me?”

“There could be a million reasons,” Reese said. “He could know we’re after the tapes. He could be protecting someone. He could want

leverage. Control over everything Roman owns-”

A cold clarity slammed into me so hard it stole my breath. The words escaped my lips before I could stop them.

“Or maybe he wants me here because I’m pregnant with Roman’s child.”

The room went dead silent.

“Maybe he just wants me here so he can’t hurt my child. And since Roman is in a coma, he can’t do anything about it.”

Reese stopped pacing. Even River stopped breathing. And then-

Knock. Knock. Knock.

River screamed, a sharp, startled sound, clutching her chest as she jumped nearly a foot off the ground. “Jesus Christ! Who is it?!”

Reese looked like he’d been turned to stone, eyes wide, face drained of color.

“Miss Savannah?” a gentle voice called from the other side of the door. “It’s Bella.”

12:55 Sat, Jan 31

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From Best Friend To Fiancé