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.

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

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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…” My voice cracked. “It’s terrifying. He’d rather have

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a brain–dead son than a healthy one.”

River’s brows knitted together as she stared at the floor, lost deep in

thought. When she finally spoke, her voice was slow and careful.

“Maybe it’s about Roman’s companies. His assets. Maybe he wants

them to stay in the family.”

Reese and I both snapped our heads toward her.

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.

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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.

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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.

“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.

The realization crept in slowly, like ice water seeping into my veins.

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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

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