“Nine years?!” Evelyn repeated, pulling away from his embrace completely now. She turned to stare at him, her gaze complicated, disbelieving.
She didn’t know what to feel.
Her chest tightened.
Nine years. That wasn’t just a relationship. That was almost a lifetime of memories.
“That’s almost a decade,” she said quietly.
He watched her carefully, his expression unreadable. "It was."
"Were you engaged?"
The question slipped out before she could stop herself.
He went silent for a moment.
"...At one point.”
Her breath caught.
Of course they were. Nine years. Families must have known. There must have been plans, discussions about the future, a life mapped out together.
“Why did it end?” she asked, her breathing uneven.
Roman’s jaw tightened. “It ran its course.”
“That’s not an ans
