just for a bloody contract | Roman Godfrey au

ch. 35 • the parting

Roman was the one who decided to leave early this time. In the car, he started talking. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

"What would I have said," I shrugged.

"Why did you even do all this for me? Like what's even the reason? Do you pity me?" his voice changed from normal to angry again. Ugh, why was he this temperamental?

"What? No, of course not," I defended myself.

"Then why would you go through all of that just for me? Don't you think it's a little weird? Like sure, I pay for your education, but hell, even children don't do all that for their parents."

"I know; I just wanted you to be better," I mumbled.

Roman drove to this dark, abandoned road. I recognized it. It was the way to the steel plant. And soon enough we were there.

"Get out," he commanded. I did.

"This time take my hand. You have a dress on, and I don't want to clean your bloody knee."

I sighed and held his hand. This man went from kissing me to shut me up to telling me he didn't want to clean my cut. This? I chose to do all of that for him?

"Well, Cinderella, you have to talk some for us to actually figure everything out," Roman said.

"Roman, I don't know, okay?" I said as he took me to the same place we had gone before. We sat down near the ledge and looked into the horizon. The silhouettes of the silent trees and whispering wind welcomed us. "I don't know why I did what I did. But I decided on it the day Daniel told me his girlfriend Grace had died and I just didn't want to lose you and-"

"You're losing me either way. This is a two-year deal. Less now because I want us to end this contract." His voice was so monotonous.

"But why? Did I do anything?"

"Except the whole save-the-day thing you pulled, no."

"Then why?" I asked.

"Look, you don't need to be my wife. Stay in my house. Do all of that. You have your own life. Go live it."

"Roman, but what about you?" I asked.

"Liana, the treatment works. It helped me not want blood as much as I did. You don't need to be here. Try to understand," Roman looked at me, frustrated.

I felt the waterworks come again. Every single time I thought of parting from Roman, my heart just broke apart. And now I knew why. "Roman," I sobbed, "I don't want to leave."

Roman threw his head back in frustration. "I'm not kidding. Liana, you need to. Forget that any of this happened. Forget about it, and as soon as you are done with PA school, move out of Pennsylvania even. I'll pay you whatever you need."

At that moment, I don't know what came over me, but I slammed the pavement. I was the one gritting my teeth. "How on earth could you say I should forget about the past almost one year? How can you say that? Do you think I can forget Comway, Letha, Peter? Shelley? You? Roman Godfrey, you think it's that easy to just let go of that one person that's stuck in this stupid brain of mine all day? You are arrogant, moody, rude, and straight-up horrible to me sometimes and then just an hour ago, you kissed me, and you just expect me to forget all that?!" I huffed and breathed again.

Roman looked at me in shock. He probably never thought I could yell too. "Liana, I never said it wasn't going to be hard. I can't let my mess take your life. I appreciate everything you did, but I can't just- you know".

"Roman, I don't care. At this point, I- I just want to be here," I cried.

"You're acting foolish. What's gotten into you? I thought you were sensible," Roman pulled on his hair. "I thought I'd bring you here, in silence, so you could think. So you could make a wise decision. But you just want to stay. How does that make any sense at all?"

I wiped my tears and looked at the darkness. "You're right. It makes no sense."

"Exactly. So you agree? You're leaving?"

I drew my breath and let it out again. "Yes."

This is what I get for falling for a person who doesn't do relationships and doesn't understand feelings. This was my price. I brought it upon myself. But had I? I didn't mean to at all, but he made it so hard.

I got up and brushed the back of my dress. "We should go," my voice trembled.

"Liana, I'm doing this for you," Roman said.

"I know," I said matter-of-factly. "It's not at all because you don't just want to go back to your old life. Forgetting me is going to be a piece of cake for you. You get back pretty girls to have fun with every night. You get back peace and quiet in your house. You get back your old self. And paying for my schooling doesn't even make a dent in your net worth."

Before Roman could say anything, I walked into the dark, not sure where I was going. But I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to talk to him. And I certainly didn't want to hold his hand.

I walked until I felt that there was no ground. It must be the stairs. I put my foot over and felt a step and slowly went down. It wasn't even that bad. And then came a turning point. I felt the steps again and took my time down. Roman, thankfully, wasn't coming down too. But then, my foot slipped. I tried to grasp onto something, but I think I grasped onto a thin rod in the dark, and felt the skin of my palm tear. I yelled until a moment after, I fell and hit my head somewhere. Then I got dizzy, and my eyes closed. 

►▸note: just a heads up, there's just a few more chapters left! love you all for reading so far. hope you're liking it. please continue to stay safe and have a great day!!