His Father Bought Me-Chapter 23: It Wasn’t An accident

Roman froze. Even the air in the room held its breath. Slowly, his eyes moved to the top corner of the screen, to the date, the time, and his stomach dropped.

Estelle’s breathing grew uneven, her gaze locked on the numbers as if they might change if she stared long enough. "If this happened the same night as my fall, why is no one talking about it?" she asked, her voice barely steady.

Roman swallowed, trying to gather his words.

Estelle’s eyes shimmered, tears beginning to gather, and then she turned to him."Unless of course, you knew I was going to fall, and it was the perfect cover-up?" she whispered.

Roman looked at her, something tight and conflicted flickering across his face. He shook his head slowly. "No, I had no idea that you even had a performance at the Whitehall arena," he said. "But... he did."

The words landed hard. Estelle felt it like a physical blow. "So he destroyed my career to protect yours? The rink was compromised then. You surely had something to do with it, don’t deny it," she said, her voice brimming with suspicion.

Roman shook his head quickly. "No, that’s not it," he said. "You’re not seeing it clearly." He hesitated, and then the words came out before he could stop them. "He knew you were going to fall even before it happened. My fight? It just happened that night. I only found out about your performance when I—"

"You’re saying this wasn’t an accident?" Her voice dropped. "That they planned it?" she asked, her voice breaking at the edges. Her head snapped toward him, her breath catching sharply. "Do you even hear yourself right now?" she asked, her voice unsteady, threaded with disbelief. "You’re saying my fall wasn’t an accident?" Her voice cut through his words.

Roman sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know it’s the last thing you want to hear," he said, his voice low, heavy with frustration, "but yes, I think it wasn’t an accident."

Estelle’s fingers tightened around the wheels of her chair, shaking her head as her mind spun, refusing to settle.

"I don’t know exactly what happened," Roman continued, his tone softer now, almost hesitant. "All I know is that it was perfect timing... the perfect noise to cover the scandal that would have come from that fight."

Her eyes stayed fixed on the timestamp, shaking her head. No, no... it can’t be. Her chest felt tight, and a wave of heat rose in her throat. She started to push forward, ready to move, but Roman’s hand caught hers.

"Where are you going?" he asked, confusion and concern threading his voice.

"To get answers!" she shot back, her voice cracking despite herself.

"From who?" he pressed. "Do you think anyone will actually tell you what happened? If anything, they’ll call you delusional."

Estelle’s jaw tightened. "So what are you saying? Do you expect me to just sit here with this? With this knowledge you’ve given me?" Her voice trembled with anger, veins standing out in her neck.

Roman’s fingers tightened slightly around hers, anchoring her as his gaze held hers. "I’m not asking you to sit still and do nothing," he said, his voice low. "I’m asking you to set the emotions aside, just for a moment, so you can think clearly."

The room felt smaller suddenly.

"Because this?" he continued, his thumb brushing once against her knuckles, almost absentminded. "This is bigger than you and me, bigger than whatever we think we know right now." He exhaled slowly. "And the only way we get ahead of it is if we let them believe they already have us where they want."

Estelle’s breath hitched as if he were asking her to do the impossible.

Roman leaned in just a fraction, close enough that she could feel the warmth and catch the scent of him. His hand lifted, hesitating for the briefest second before his fingers brushed her jaw. "Remember, we just need to play along and give them exactly what they expect to see." His eyes searched hers, softer now. "And underneath that, we take everything back."

He paused for a moment as if letting the words settle. "We follow your plan," he went on. "We pull the wool over their eyes. And then," his thumb grazed her jaw again, slower this time, "if you let me, I’ll help you find the truth." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The words settled between them, heavier than they should have been.

Estelle’s chest rose and fell, her thoughts racing, colliding, but his gaze held her there, grounding her in a way she didn’t want to examine too closely.

"Do you think..." he paused, just enough for the moment to stretch, "you can trust me?" His voice dropped on the last word, almost a confession.

Estelle swallowed, her eyes flicking between his, searching, measuring, resisting the pull even as she felt it tightening. "This is... a lot," she admitted, her voice quieter now. She drew in a slow breath, steadying herself. "I need time to process it. But we don’t have that luxury," she added. "So we stick to the plan."

Roman studied her for a moment, then nodded once. "Good."

Estelle shifted, trying to pull her hand free, to put space back between them, to reset whatever this was, but his fingers tightened just slightly, stopping her. "Roman—"

"We’ll get the answers," he said, cutting in gently, not forceful, certain, making her pause. His gaze didn’t waver. "Whatever this is, whoever’s behind it, we’ll find out." His voice dropped, softer now, meant only for her. "I promise."

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Estelle didn’t want to believe him, but something in his voice and the way it was low, steady, and threaded with a certainty slipped past her defenses. It settled somewhere deep, somewhere she hadn’t realized was still alive, and before she could stop herself, she nodded. Then her gaze drifted to the clock on the wall. "You need to go to Lena," she said. "We don’t have much time."

Roman shook his head almost immediately, like the thought didn’t even deserve space. "Lena can wait," he said, his eyes fixed on hers. "Right now, we focus on us. We make this marriage believable."

There was something in the way he said us that made her chest tighten. Estelle swallowed, then nodded again.

Roman’s gaze shifted, dragging over her frame, lingering just long enough to make heat creep up her neck. And then he frowned slightly. "You can’t show up to our first appearance looking like that. Not when we’re about to lie to the entire world."