"I'm also human, Roman," Julie's voice cracked as she turned away, her chest rising with the weight of every buried emotion.
"I have a heart that feels hurt and a brain that thinks, but all these years… I was treated like I was some kind of robot. Like I didn't bleed like everyone else… like I didn't matter."
Her voice was rising, trembling with pain, her pitch climbing with each word until Roman instinctively stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, silencing her anguish with a firm, desperate embrace.
Julie didn't resist. She collapsed into him like a wave finally reaching shore after years of trying.
Her fingers clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly, and her sobs were no longer held back—they came raw, unfiltered, soaked in betrayal and exhaustion.
Roman said nothing at first.
What could he possibly say?
She looked so pitiful, so breakable in that moment that something inside him cracked.
