Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina) novel Chapter 202

I’m Done

The rest of the day passes in a blur while I try my best not to think about my mother.

Of course it doesn’t work. I might not be actively talking about this morning, but it’s in my head, regardless.

Jake’s still locked away in his office,no sign of him, no word. The only thing we get is a

text around dinnertime.

J: Don’t wait for me.

So we don’t.

Aiden and I order pizza. We sprawl on the couch, slices on paper plates, a dumb movie

playing on the T.V.. He’s laughing at the screen like it’s any other night. Like nothing’s happened. Like the world hasn’t cracked open beneath my feet.

I haven’t exactly told him anything, because if I say it out loud, it becomes real.I don’t

want to talk about it. He thinks Zaid is feeling sick and Jake is too busy with work things.

His hand rests on my thigh, his thumb brushing soft circles against my skin.

Usually, it’s comforting.

Tonight, it makes my stomach twist.

I smile at him once when he looks my way, but it feels thin. Fake. It’s a lie I can’t quite

keep up.

He fucked me good earlier, and it helped. It numbed me for a while, but now everything is

rushing back in.

Heavier. Hotter.

I feel like I’m suffocating under it. My heart is in my stomach. Everything hurts. I want to

cry, but there are no tears left. Just this dull, hollow ache echoing in my chest.

“I’m gonna go check on Zaid,” I say quietly, setting my plate down.

Aiden turns to look at me with a soft smile and kind eyes. He leans over and kisses me

1/4

I’m Done

once, lips brushing mine like nothing’s wrong. Like I’m not bleeding under my skin.

“Okay, baby,” he says, turning back to the screen.

I climb the stairs slower than I need to, dragging my fingers along the railing and then the wall. My hand trembles when I reach Zaid’s door. I try the knob.

It’s locked. My heart drops. That tiny click feels like a punch to the chest. He never locks

1. it.

I knock, once, twice. Silence follows, and I wonder how angry he is from earlier.

“Zaid?”

The door creaks open a second later.

He stands there, face blank. His eyes unreadable. And just like that, he looks like he used to before all of this, guarded, distant. Mean.

He doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t move. Just stares at me like he’s waiting for me to say

something. He doesn’t even invite me in.

I rub my arms, suddenly feeling very, very small. “Can we talk?”

He looks like he’s going to say no, his dark eyes taking me in from my head to my toes. I’m shaking at this point. Where is my Zaid? My love?

He finally gives a stiff nod and steps aside.

I walk in slowly. The air in his room feels heavier than usual. Books are scattered across

his desk and I know he must’ve been studying.

kitchen-”

“What do you want, Alina?” he interrupts, sighing.

That gets a reaction. He frowns. A flash of anger passing through his eyes before he swallows it down with a sigh.

“I can’t do this,” he breathes.

“This isn’t what forever should look like, Alina,” he says. “Using sex like a makeshift bandage. Then as a weapon. As a way to show me that you can just walk away when you’re unhappy with me, with a conversation we have.”

He scoffs, pain flashing across his face. “Isn’t it?”

“And you know what the most fucked up part is?” He chuckles incredulously.