ABSOLUTE INSANITY: A forbidden bond-Chapter 157: My scalp

Chapter 157: My scalp
Chapter 157
KATYA POV
"Marina." The voice cut through the hallway like a blade.
She froze. So did I. Her head snapped up as if pulled by a string. Romeo stood at the far end of the hall.
No towel this time. Just black joggers hanging low on his hips, bare chest still faintly damp, his dark mask covering the upper half of his face.
The hallway lights caught on the hard lines of his shoulders, the rigid set of his posture. He wasn’t rushing. He wasn’t shouting. His expression blank.
That was what made it terrifying.
Marina slowly stood, backing away from me as though she’d only just remembered where she was.
What she was doing. Her earlier fury flickered—fractured—replaced by something tight and defensive.
I scrambled backward, palms slipping on the carpet as I pressed myself against my door, chest heaving, hands shaking so badly I had to curl them into fists to stop them from betraying me.
Romeo’s gaze dropped to me for half a second—taking in my disheveled hair, my uneven breathing, my trembling hands, the way my body was curled inward like I was trying to make myself smaller.
Something shifted in the air, his eyes lifting back to Marina. He started walking toward us.
Each step was unhurried. The sound of his bare feet against the carpet was louder than any shout could have been.
Marina tried sounding confident but I could see her visible swallow as she whispered. "Romeo..." The single word tentative, almost fragile—nothing like the woman who had been towering over me seconds ago.
He didn’t answer.
He reached us and stopped, close enough that I could feel the weight of his presence shift the air.
One hand slid into the pocket of his joggers with deliberate calm. The other hung loose at his side. His eyes never left Marina.Not even for a second.
It was like I didn’t exist anymore—not because I was insignificant, but because whatever was happening now was entirely between them.
Marina straightened her spine instinctively, lifting her chin as if remembering herself.
"Oh my God," she said suddenly, her voice pitching higher, lighter—fractured in a way that made it sound rehearsed. "Romeo, I—"
He didn’t react. No change in posture. No shift in expression. Nothing.
She hesitated for half a second, then stepped closer to him, deliberately positioning herself just slightly in front of me.
"I didn’t know she was up here," Marina continued, her words spilling faster now. "I came to talk to you and found her lurking outside your room. Watching."
My breath hitched, what was the bitch on about. Yes I admit I was watching what had transpired but it’s not that bad of a thing, I was just going to my room.
"That’s not—" I tried to speak, but my voice came out thin, shaky. It didn’t even sound like it belonged to me. I hated my self at times like this.
Marina turned her head sharply, eyes flashing. "Don’t lie." She looked back at Romeo immediately, softening again like the snake she is.
"She was spying. I asked her why she was here and she got aggressive. I was scared, Romeo."
Spying?! Scared?! I should b the one scared. This bitch literally dragged me with my hair. The word felt unreal.
My hands trembled harder, nails digging into my palms as I stared at him—at the stillness of him.
He didn’t look at me. Not even once, as if I was disgusting to look at. His eyes fully focused on the almost naked fiancee.
My chest tightened painfully. Why would he look at me? She was his fiancée. I was... whatever inconvenience I represented in this house.
"She wouldn’t leave me alone," Marina went on, stepping even closer to his side. "I tried to walk away, but she kept dragging me into it. If you hadn’t come out..." She let the sentence trail off meaningfully.
My stomach dropped. This girl was trying to frame me! I shook my head weakly. "That’s not true. I was just going to my room. She—she came after me." The words sounded pathetic even to my own ears but I had to defend myself somehow.
I was already hated, if this girl was truly going to be the Donna, I’m totally cooked. Romeo still didn’t say anything.
He didn’t tell her to step back. He didn’t move away from her. That silence crushed me more than anything else tonight.
Marina must have felt it too—because confidence crept back into her posture. She reached for his arm, fingers brushing his wrist like she belonged there.
Like she’d won. But before she could latch on fully, his gaze sharpened.
Just a look but it was sharp enough to make Marina’s hand freeze midair. She swallowed and let it fall back to her side.
For the first time since he’d appeared, something in her expression flickered—uncertainty cutting through the act.
I stood there shaking, back pressed to the door, heart hammering painfully in my chest.
This was it, I thought dully.He was going to believe her. Of course he was.
I was already bracing myself for it—for the dismissal, the silence, the quiet understanding that whatever happened to me tonight simply... didn’t matter.
And I’m definitely getting a death wish.
The quiet stretched. For the first time since he’d stepped into the hallway, Romeo’s gaze finally shifted.
It moved off Marina and landed on me.
My breath caught instantly. The weight of it pressed into my chest. I couldn’t tell what he saw when he looked at me.
Fear? Guilt? Nothing at all? His voice, when it came, was flat. "Get to your room."
That was it.
Two seconds. Three words. No accusation. No comfort. No explanation.
Just an order. Marina’s head snapped toward him. "What?" she said sharply. "Romeo—what do you mean get to her room?"
Her tone shifted immediately offended. "She came at me. She was spying on you. I was trying to protect myself—"
"Get to your room," he repeated, not looking at me again.
My body reacted before my mind did.
I fumbled for the handle behind me, fingers numb, heart hammering so hard I thought I might pass out. I didn’t argue. I didn’t wait for permission. I just turned, shoved the door open, and slipped inside as fast as I could.
Behind me, Marina’s voice rose.
"Romeo, are you serious right now?" she demanded. "You’re just going to let her—"
I glanced back just as my door was closing. Romeo had turned away from me entirely.
He held out his hand—not to me, not to explain, not to acknowledge what had just happened—but open, calm, unmistakably inviting.
Marina stared at it. Still talking. Still furious. Still trying to control the narrative. But her words slowed.
Her eyes flicked from his hand... to his face.
And then—after a beat that felt heavy with something unspoken—she took it.
He didn’t pull her close. He just turned and started walking, guiding her down the hallway toward the elevator while she continued talking, her voice trailing behind them.
"You can’t just ignore this, Romeo. This is unacceptable. She crossed a line—" The elevator doors slid open.
I didn’t wait to hear more. I shut my door quietly but firmly, leaning my forehead against the wood as the sound of the elevator doors closing echoed faintly through the floor.
I didn’t understand what had just happened.
He hadn’t punished me. He hadn’t even acknowledged me beyond telling me to leave. And yet... he hadn’t sided with her either.
I slid down the door slowly until I was sitting on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around myself. My scalp still burned. My hands still shook.
††
Well?