Chapter 213: Sounds Beautiful

Roman I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the cool, moon-washed sand. The waves crashed in slow, rhythmic pulses—beautiful, steady, calming. Or they should have been. But tonight the sound only sharpened the chaos in my head. I’d been strung tight all day. I thought that maybe walking out here, letting the water kiss my feet, letting the night swallow me whole, would help. But my chest still felt iron-clamped. My mind still churned. My stomach still twisted with something that felt halfway between rage and sickness. I felt… bad. Really bad. I sat down on the sand, dragging a hand down my face as Paula’s voice echoed in my mind, sharp as shrapnel even over the rolling of the waves. The ocean was peaceful. The world was peaceful. But inside me? It was war. God. How did everything get so twisted so fast? All I wanted was simple. A life with Savannah. A place no one could find us—no fathers, no enemies, no ghosts clawing at our backs. A home where our kids could run without fear, where