Chapter 116

Roman's POV

I saw the way her reaction shifted the very moment the words left my lips. Her expression faltered, almost like I had pierced through a layer of armor she had carefully built around herself. 

Her lips parted as though she might reply, but nothing came out. Her gaze flickered away from me for too long, her eyes retreating inward as if she had suddenly been transported far from this room, to a place where only she could go.

It felt like I had struck a nerve.

But… had I? My question hadn’t been malicious. It hadn’t even been invasive in my eyes. Asking about a child’s father was, to me, a simple, harmless inquiry. Yet here she was, sitting across from me in silence, her whole body language guarded, braced.

Why?

A sudden unease began crawling under my skin. Could it be… the father was dead? Was she a widow, still grieving silently, carrying the weight alone? My chest tightened at the thought. If that was the case, I h