ABSOLUTE INSANITY: A forbidden bond

Chapter 284: Pretend.

Chapter 284

KATYA POV

The moment the hidden door closed behind him, the breath I had been holding left my lungs in a quiet rush.

God.

My shoulders dropped, the tension I had been carrying since the sound of the bedroom door opened finally loosening.

I had been holding it together. Sitting straight. Moving slowly. Carefully. Pretending I wasn’t aware of every step he took behind me.

Pretending the air in the room hadn’t changed the second he walked in. Pretending his presence didn’t do anything to me. I stared at my reflection, my face looked calm. Controlled.

Inside, I was a mess. I dragged another cotton pad across my cheek, wiping away the last traces of makeup.

You’re so done for. The thought came with a quiet, almost disbelieving exhale.

I had agreed to this. To sharing the room. To living like this. To acting like the space between us wasn’t full of history and things neither of us ever said out loud.

The kiss, the check and Lila.

He walked in. Silent and controlled. Like he always was. He hadn’t said a word, hadn’t disrupted my life yet and that somehow made it worse.

I didn’t know this version of Romeo who didn’t ravel on my pain and suffering. Sighing, I dropped the used cotton pad into the bin and pushed back from the vanity, standing quickly before I could overthink anything else.

The red dress suddenly felt too much. Too loud. Too obvious. I crossed the room and opened the closet, my fingers moving through hangers until they landed on something simple—a loose shirt.

I had just pulled it free when the hidden panel opened behind me and I stilled.

Two men stepped out from the second room, carrying folded sheets and a small box between them. They nodded politely as they passed, moving toward the door without lingering.

So they were done. Which meant.....I didn’t turn. I didn’t look toward the panel. I just grabbed the shirt and walked straight into the ensuite bathroom, closing the door behind me.

The quiet inside was immediate. I let out another slow breath and leaned back against the door for a second. This was fine. This was normal.

Normal people shared spaces all the time but people like me do not share a room with a man who had once been the center of their fear, their anger, their confusion... and somehow still managed to affect their heartbeat just by existing.

I pushed away from the door before my thoughts could spiral further and changed quickly, slipping out of the dress and into the shirt.

By the time I opened the bathroom door again, my expression was back under control. I stepped out and stopped.

Romeo was coming out of the hidden room. Our eyes met and neither of us moved.

The distance between us wasn’t large. Just the space of the bedroom, quiet and softly lit, the air still holding the faint scent of lavender.

I realized, a second too late, that I was standing there staring. Quickly, I looked away first. My fingers moved automatically, smoothing the hem of the shirt even though it didn’t need it.

I walked toward the vanity, picking up the small pile of used cotton pads just to give myself something to do.

The silence between us was thick with tension. Like we were both aware of an invisible line neither of us wanted to cross.

He didn’t speak. Didn’t ask why I was still awake. Didn’t comment on the change of clothes. Didn’t acknowledge the fact that we were now moving around the same space like we were never the predator and the pray.

I risked a glance toward him. He had already moved past me, his attention elsewhere, his steps calm and unhurried as if sharing a room with me meant nothing at all.

Like this was easy. Like I wasn’t standing there trying to remember how to breathe normally again. I turned back to the vanity before he could catch me looking.

This was going to be a long night. And something told me....this was only the beginning.

____

"Hmmm" The first thing I noticed was the warmth. The kind that makes your body sink deeper before your mind fully wakes up.

For the next few seconds, I didn’t open my eyes. I stayed there, comfortable, breathing slowly, letting the quiet settle around me.

Then something felt wrong. this was too soft. My brows pulled together slightly as I forced my eyes open.

The gray ceiling came into focus. My ceiling. My bed. I froze. Slowly, I pushed myself up, the blanket sliding down into my lap. My movements were careful, but my mind was already racing ahead of me.

I looked down. The loose shirt I had changed into last night was wrinkled from sleep. The covers were tucked around my legs.

Memory came back in pieces. The vanity. The chair. The waiting.

Last night, Romeo had left his room and I had told myself I wouldn’t sleep. I didn’t want him walking back past me while I was unconscious. I didn’t want to wake up wondering when he had come back or what he had seen.

So I had sat there. Counting. One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred. Slow numbers. Steady breathing. Anything to stay awake.

My eyes moved toward the vanity now. The chair was exactly where I had left it. That was where I had been. That was where I had fallen asleep.

My fingers tightened slightly around the blanket. I didn’t remember getting up. I didn’t remember walking to the bed.

And I definitely didn’t remember pulling the covers over myself. The realization settled quietly in my chest.

Someone had moved me. My gaze shifted slowly across the room. The hidden panel was closed. The bedroom was silent.

No movement. No sound. My pulse picked up, not fast, but heavier. There was only one person who would have come back into this room was Romeo.

Ohh heavens....Did he find me asleep at the vanity? Carried me to the bed? And covered me?!

I stared at the blanket in my hands, my throat felt tight, and I didn’t like the feeling. This was the same man who once used silence as pressure.

As control. As punishment. Took my eye sight and mobility.

But this silence—This felt different. I swung my legs over the side of the bed slowly, my feet touching the floor. I stood, the blanket slipping from my fingers, and turned toward the bedside table.

That was when I saw it. A small bag. Placed neatly beside the lamp.

I stilled. Because it hadn’t been there last night.