Page 177 of Rose
It was beautiful—spotless, modern, yet lived in—like someone had made it a home. Maybe this was where he’d been hiding for the last year.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.Savior.
Guilt slammed into her chest. She’d told him she was at her mother’s house, but here she was, standing in the past, waiting for a man she once loved. She loved Savior now, she couldn’t deny that, but there was still a part of her heart that would always belong to William. And she needed answers.
She declined the call.
“This place is beautiful, right?”
The voice came from across the living room. She looked up, and her heart lurched so hard it almost hurt.
William. In the flesh.
Gone was the suit from the night before; he wore black sweats, a white T-shirt, and slides. His locs, just as long as she remembered, were pulled low behind his head. A small burn scar marred one cheek, faint but there. More covered his hands. Something in him felt… different. Changed.
A year. She had cried, screamed, mourned him. She had buried the memory of his laugh in the same grave as their daughter. And now—he was standing here. Alive. Breathing.
“Hey, Beautiful.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks before she could stop them. She reached up, cupping his face like she had to make sure he was real, like last night hadn’t already confirmed it.
“You’re really alive?” Her voice cracked under the weight of it all.
“Yes, baby. It’s me.” He kissed her forehead, and for a split second she melted, but even his touch felt different.
She smiled through it anyway. She was happy he was alive. But the questions in her chest were louder than the waves outside.
Then he kissed her—deeply—and the tears kept falling.
And in the middle of it, Savior’s face flashed in her mind. Her heart slammed hard against her ribs.
“I can’t…” she stumbled over the words. “I’m sorry, but I’m with someone else now, Will.”
His expression darkened.
Yes, William was alive. But she couldn’t lie to herself about what she felt for Savior. Her heart was being torn in two—between the man she thought she’d buried and the man who had loved her through every grief, broken wall, and silent night.
Everything was moving too fast.
“Will, what is going on? I thought you died… I saw you take your last breath.” The words tumbled from Ahzii’s mouth in a rush, her voice breaking, every thought from that night crashing out of her at once.
William’s hands closed around her waist like he could ground her with his touch. But it didn’t work. Not anymore. That part of her belonged to someone else now, even if she couldn’t say it out loud.
“Sit down, and I’ll explain everything.”
Her legs felt heavy, but she sank into the sectional, eyes locked on him.
“You want some tea? Coffee? Water?” he asked gently.
She shook her head. “I don’t want tea, Will. I want answers. I thought you were dead for an entire year. I grieved. I cried every damn night, praying to have you back in my arms again—praying to have our daughter back. And you’ve been alive this whole time?”
Her voice cracked, but the hurt, anger, and confusion in it were razor-sharp. The last year of her life… it felt like a cruel lie. And she had no idea that the man she’d loved, the man she’d married, was about to become the biggest lie of all.
“I know you’re confused. And probably mad at me.” His tone softened as he sat next to her.
“Then explain.” She swiped at the tears still falling.
His eyes didn’t waver. “Ahzii… that man you fell in love with is dangerous. And he’s the reason for all of this.”
