My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 302

Her legs weakened under her.

He felt it immediately. His hold tightened, and in one smooth motion, he turned her around and pulled her fully against his chest. Her forehead pressed into him, her cheek resting against his bare skin.

She could feel him now. Solid. Unmoving. His muscles shifted slightly under her touch as she instinctively braced herself against him.

His heartbeat was strong beneath her palm, steady and sure, and that steadiness made her chest ache.

Why does he always do this to me? she thought weakly.

His hand slid up her back, slow this time, almost careful. Then his fingers slipped under the fabric of the shirt she was wearing, his skin cool against hers.

Riyana trembled.

Not from fear alone. From awareness. From the way her body reacted even when her heart was still confused and bruised.

“Jabco…” she whispered, her voice barely there.

He lowered his head, his lips brushing her temple, then her cheek. The kiss was softer now, slower, but no less intense.

“Don’t look so scared,” he murmured. “I’m not letting you go.”

That was supposed to sound reassuring. Instead, it sent a shiver through her.

She pulled back just enough to look at him, her hands still gripping his arms. “You talk like I don’t have a choice.”

He looked down at her, his expression calm, almost gentle. “You do.”

She laughed softly, bitterly. “That’s a lie.”

He didn’t deny it.

His thumb brushed her cheek, wiping away a tear she hadn’t realized had slipped out.

“You chose this,” he said quietly. “You just don’t like the way it feels.”

Riyana’s throat tightened. “I chose to protect someone innocent,” she said. “That’s not the same thing.”

His jaw tightened for a brief second, then relaxed. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

She searched his face, looking for hesitation, for guilt, for anything that would tell her he understood the weight she was carrying.

She found none.

“What happens after today?” she asked softly.

He leaned down, resting his forehead against hers. “After today, you stop worrying about running. You stop pretending you can leave whenever you want.”

“And my happiness?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

His eyes darkened. “You’ll learn to live with it.”

Her hands slowly loosened their grip on him. She felt tired. Not physically, but deep inside, the kind of exhaustion that came from fighting too long.

He kissed her again, slower this time, as if sealing something unspoken.

And Riyana stood there in his arms, knowing that morning had only just begun, and her life had already crossed a line she could never erase.

“Go get ready,” Jabco said, finally pulling away.

Even then, his hand stayed on her cheek, his thumb resting just below her eye as if he didn’t trust her not to disappear the moment he let go.

Riyana stood there, breathing unevenly. Her chest rose and fell too fast, her heart still racing from everything that had just happened.

She looked at him, really looked at him, and Jabco could see it clearly. The stubbornness was still there. That familiar resistance burning quietly behind her eyes.

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