DYLAN\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dinner felt like a scene I didn\u2019t belong in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We sat across from each other at the small dining table, plates rihtly arranged, food still steaming, yet everything felt cold. The quiet between us wasn\u2019t peaceful\u2013it was heavy, tight, like invisible hands squeezing around my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tried to act normal. He spooned food onto my plate, his expression soft, almost tender. \u201cYou should eat more. You barely finished lunch,\u201d he said gently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, forcing a smile. \u201cYeah\u2026 I will.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fork scraped lightly against the plate as I moved the food around, pretending to have an appetite. Every now and then, I\u2019d lift a bite to my mouth, chewing slowly, swallowing despite the knot lodged in my throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He watched me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Too closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like he was making sure I stayed right here, like he was afraid I\u2019d slip through his fingers the moment he looked away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d he tried again, voice light, \u201chow was the shop today? You seemed tired earlier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shrugged a little, not trusting my voice too much. \u201cBusy. But manageable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lies. My mind had been a storm the whole day and even worse tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled, relieved by the normalcy of the conversation, but it never reached his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence fell again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air buzzed with unspoken things. His earlier words echoed endlessly in my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach twisted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was that cousin story really all there was?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or was I the \u201cproblem\u201d he was desperately trying to keep contained?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took another sip of water, trying to steady myself. I could feel his gaze every time I lowered my eyes. Every clink of silverware sounded too loud. Every breath I took felt too careful\u00a0<\/p>\n
He finally exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. \u201cI know today must have been a little overwhelming,\u201d he murmured, gentler now. \u201cBut everything is okay, alright? I\u2019ve got you. You\u2019re safe here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word lingered between us, fragile and uncertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded again, because what else could I do? \u201cOkay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He smiled softly, satisfied enough with that answer, and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear like nothing was\u00a0<\/p>\n
wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the truth sat heavy in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f0b\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 59.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nothing about tonight felt safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
20 vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
And as we continued eating in that suffocating quiet, I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that whatever he was hiding\u2026 I was standing right in the middle of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a while, he finally broke the silence with a soft breath. \u201cYou should take your meds before you sleep,\u201d he said gently, standing up from his chair. He walked to the cabinet near the fridge, opened it, and pulled out a small white container\u2013the same one I\u2019d seen countless times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He returned to the table and placed two pills in front of me along with a glass of water. \u201cFor your headaches,\u201d he reminded me, voice calm, almost soothing. \u201cYou said earlier you felt dizzy again, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the pills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They sat so harmlessly on the table\u2026 yet a strange chill slid down my spine. I couldn\u2019t explain it. There was no reason to doubt him\u2013he\u2019d been the one taking care of me since day one. He made sure I ate, made sure I rested, made sure I was \u201cokay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So why did these tiny tablets suddenly feel so\u2026 dangerous?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fingers curled in my lap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He watched me, not pressuring, but waiting. Patient. Too patient.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 I\u2019m not sure I need them tonight,\u201d I murmured, eyes still fixed on the pills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gave a small chuckle, though it didn\u2019t quite reach his eyes. \u201cYou know what the doctor said. You shouldn\u2019t skip them. They help stabilize things\u2013your sleep, your memory, your headaches.\u201d Then his tone softened even more, as if trying to reassure me. \u201cI just want you to feel better, sweetheart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sweetheart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word wrapped around me like a chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. Doubting him is wrong, I told myself. He\u2019s your husband. He loves you. He\u2019s been by your side when no one else was. He wouldn\u2019t hurt you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still\u2026 my chest felt tight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take them,\u201d I finally said, forcing a small smile. \u201cBut\u2026 I think I\u2019ll take them in my room before I sleep. I\u2019m really tired. I just want to lie down already.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a split second, something flickered in his eyes\u2013worry? Frustration? Possession? I couldn\u2019t tell. Then, just like that, it vanished and he smiled again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d he said gently. \u201cThat\u2019s fine. Just don\u2019t forget, okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t,\u201d I answered quietly, slipping the pills into my palm. \u201cGood night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He leaned forward to press a soft kiss to my forehead, lingering just a little too long. \u201cGood night,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood, feeling his gaze on my back as I walked away from the table. Each step toward my bedroom felt heavier than the last. I closed the door and leaned against it, my heart pounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pills lay warm in my hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And even though I\u2019d promised to take them, they suddenly felt like the last thing I should ever trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as I stepped into my room, I quietly turned the lock, my fingers trembling just a little. I didn\u2019t slow down. I went\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 59\u00a0<\/p>\n
straight to the bathroom, closing the door behind me as if someone might burst in any second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened my palm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tablets sat there, small and innocent, yet my chest tightened just looking at them. For two years, I trusted that they were for my \u201crecovery.\u201d For two years, I swallowed whatever he handed me without question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe they were harmless. Maybe they were helping me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that same uneasy voice in my chest whispered no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw tightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without giving myself time to think\u2013or doubt\u2013I flipped the toilet lid up and dropped the pills into the water. They sank slowly, like tiny white lies finally losing their grip on me. I pressed the flush.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The whirl of water sounded louder than it should have, like a secret being washed away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the sound faded, I stood there staring at the clear water swirling back into place. My heart was pounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to the sink and splashed cold water on my face, breathing slowly, steadying myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever my \u201chusband\u201d was hiding. Whatever truth he was desperate to control\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was done being the obedient wife who didn\u2019t question anything\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I was finally ready to find out what it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
The Alchemist of Broken Dreams by Sienna Rose Blackwell 59 DYLAN\u00a0 Dinner felt like a scene I didn\u2019t belong in.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-alphas-golden-cage-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}