Chapter 4
1159 Words
The echo of Roman’s confession still hung in the air like a dense fog. "I still love you, Liana" and now it wrapped itself around the three of them, squeezing every breath from the room.
Liana turned slowly, eyes wide. “Ezra”
“Don’t,” he said, voice low, dangerous.
“Don’t say anything. I heard enough.”
Roman straightened, shoulders squaring like he was ready for a physical fight. “You were eavesdropping?”
Ezra laughed bitterly. “You think I trust you enough to leave her alone with you?”
Liana stepped forward, her voice trembling but controlled. “Ezra, this isn’t what you think.”
“You kissed me last night,” Ezra said, his voice sharp with pain. “You told me you wanted something new. Something that didn’t hurt.”
“I meant it”
“Did you?” he cut in, The echo of Roman’s confession still hung in the air like a dense fog. *"I still love you, Liana."* Now it wrapped itself around the three of them, squeezing every breath from the room.
Liana turned slowly, her eyes wide. “Ezra…”
“Don’t,” he said, voice low, dangerous.
“Don’t say anything. I heard enough.”
Roman straightened, shoulders squaring like he was ready for a physical fight. “You were eavesdropping?”
Ezra laughed bitterly, a humorless sound that cut through the tension. “You think I trust you enough to leave her alone with you?”
Liana stepped forward, her voice trembling but controlled. “Ezra, this isn’t what you think—”
“You kissed me last night,” Ezra interrupted, his voice sharp with pain. “You told me you wanted something new. Something that didn’t hurt.”
“I meant it,” she said quickly, almost desperately.
“Did you?” he cut in, eyes blazing. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re still shackled to the man who broke you.”
Roman took a step forward. “Watch your mouth.”
“Or what?” Ezra snapped, jaw clenched. “You’ll do to me what you did to her father’s company? "What did you do to her?”
“Enough!” Liana’s voice cracked like thunder, silencing both men. “This isn’t about either of you right now.”
Ezra stared at her, chest rising and falling with labored breaths. “Then what is it about, Liana? Because I’m not going to be your second choice. I care about you. I've always cared about you. But I won’t stay where I’m not wanted.”
“You are wanted,” she said, softly now, painfully. But this is messy. I’m messy. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
Ezra shook his head, pain flickering across his face. “You don’t just stumble into a love triangle, Liana. You feed it. And now you’ve made me feel like a placeholder.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. The guilt sat heavy on her chest.
Ezra turned, his shoulders stiff with pain. “Congratulations, Wolfe,” he muttered. “You still have her heart. Just don’t break it again. Or I swear I’ll ruin you in ways you’ve never imagined.”
Then he was gone, the door slamming behind him like a gavel striking judgment.
Silence crashed over the room. Liana stood frozen, trembling. Her hands balled into fists at her sides as Roman moved toward her, cautious, like approaching a wounded animal.
“Liana…”
She turned on him, eyes glistening. “Why did you have to say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
“And now I’ve hurt someone who’s never done anything but care for me,” she said, her voice brittle and broken. “Ezra doesn’t deserve this." He doesn’t deserve me like this.”
“I didn’t ask you to hurt him,” Roman said, stepping closer. “But you can’t keep pretending you don’t feel anything for me.”
Her voice cracked. “What I feel doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that you used me, Roman. You left me in ruins. You broke something sacred, and you never even looked back.”
“I regret it,” he said. And for the first time, it wasn’t slick or defensive. It was raw. Real. “Every single day.”
She closed her eyes, swallowing the knot in her throat. “Regret doesn’t fix anything.”
“I know,” he whispered.
The silence between them stretched and twisted, heavy with everything unsaid. Roman stood there like a man watching a dream die slowly.
Liana took a step back. Then another said: “I can’t do this right now. I need to be alone.”
He didn’t follow her this time. He watched her leave, shoulders slumped with resignation. The click of her heels down the hallway echoed like a funeral march.
Outside the conference room, Liana leaned against the cool corridor wall, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her heart thundered in her chest, caught between past wounds and present chaos. Ezra’s face lingered in her mind, so full of hurt. And Roman’s voice haunted her ears, low and sincere.
She didn’t want to lose Ezra.
But she couldn’t deny that Roman had once owned pieces of her soul that had never truly healed.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed in her hand.
A message.
Ezra: You need to choose, Liana. Before we all lose.
She stared at the screen, her fingers trembling.
Her throat tightened as her vision blurred with unshed tears. *Choose?* How could she choose when her heart was at war with itself?
She didn’t move for minutes.
Not until a voice startled her.
“Liana?”
She turned to find her assistant, Cara, wide-eyed and worried.
“There’s a meeting in ten minutes,” Cara said gently. “Are you okay?”
Liana forced a nod. “Yeah. I just need a moment.”
Cara gave her a long look, then disappeared down the hall.
Liana’s knees buckled slightly, and she slid to the floor. Her designer dress pooled around her like a silk curtain closing after an unbearable act. For a moment, she let the tears fall silently. Everything hurt—her past, her present, her heart.
This wasn’t just about Ezra or Roman anymore. It was about her. Her future. Her healing. Her truth.
And somehow, she had to choose which version of herself she wanted to become—before both men tore her in half.
She wiped her face, stood up, and took a breath that didn’t quite steady her.
As she stepped back toward the meeting room, her phone buzzed again.
This time, it was Roman.
Roman: I’ll wait. However long it takes. Just don’t shut me out again.*
Liana didn’t reply.
But deep in her chest, something stirred—something dangerous. Something real.
This... this was just the beginning.
- Writer
