From Best Friend To Fiancé (Savannah and Roman) novel Chapter 480

Chapter 480

Everyone coped differently. Maybe humor was just his armor.

But then… there were the others. The bad eggs.

Ryan.

Rosalie.

Randall.

My jaw tightened at the thought of Ryan. My biggest mistake since stepping foot in Blackwood Manor had been thinking I could control

him. That I could blackmail him with Emily.

A big fucking mistake.

I swallowed hard, my fingers curling against the stone beneath me.

That night–God, that night–1 had genuinely thought I was going to

die.

I’d seen my life flash before my eyes in vivid, horrifying clarity. Every

breath had felt borrowed. Every second stolen.

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Chapter 480

I exhaled shakily.

“Feeling better now?”

I startled slightly, lifting my head.

River now stood beside me, her lips curved into a soft smile, concern

flickering in her eyes.

I nodded, forcing myself to breathe properly again. “Yeah. Kind of.”

She sat down next to me, smoothing her dress over her knees. “I hope you understand I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad earlier.”

I turned toward her immediately. “Of course. This has nothing to do

with you. At all.”

She studied my face, hesitation crossing her features. Her lips parted

like she wanted to say something–something important.

Then she closed them again and shook her head.

“Never mind.”

My chest tightened. “What is it?” I asked gently,

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She smiled quickly, too quickly. “Nothing.” Then she gestured toward

the roses lining the garden path. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

I followed her gaze, even though a strange heaviness had settled in

my chest.

“They are,” I said quietly. “So beautiful.”

She stood abruptly and extended her hand to me. “Do you want to see

the ones Calder gave me in my bedroom?”

I smiled faintly, taking her hand. “Sure. Why not?”

We took only a few steps before my phone started ringing in my jeans

pocket.

I frowned slightly, having almost forgotten it was even on me.

“Sorry,” I said quickly, pulling it out. “It’s Reese.”

River nodded, though her smile tightened just a bit as I swiped to

answer.

“Reese?”

His voice came through the line sharp and urgent.

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“Savannah, you need to get back here. Right now.”

My heart skipped violently. “Why? Is something wrong? Did

something happen to Roman-”

“Roman is awake.”

The world stopped.

Everything–sound, air, thought–froze. My fingers went numb around

the phone.

River’s voice sounded distant. “Savannah? What is it? What’s going

on?”

I tried to speak. I really did. But my tongue refused to cooperate. My

throat locked up as tears blurred my vision.

I turned toward River, phone still pressed to my ear, tears streaming

down my face.

I tried to tell her. No words came.

“What’s wrong?” she pleaded. “Savannah, talk to me.”

The phone slipped from my hand and hit the stone path with a dull

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clatter.

I didn’t pick it up.

I ran.

I ran like my life depended on it.

River shouted after me, her voice echoing faintly behind, but I didn’t

slow down. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.

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