"Tangled Desire"

rhythm. It was a rhythm that didn't involve Austin. It never had. He was a shadow that came and went, his presence felt in the cold for

d the world around him. Sometimes, when Kiana cradled him in her arms, she wondered if he could feel her love. But there was always the nagging feeling that, no matter how much she cared for

ore she could even react, Austin's voice came th

still a

. He just fell asleep about ten minutes ago," she replied quietly, keeping her voice even, even though a knot had already begun to for

liar coldness, an unreadable expression that made Kiana want to shrink away. He didn't even bother to acknowledge her

is voice was impersonal, businesslike, as though he were

ded. "Of

, loose-fitting shirt and the sweatpants she wore when taking care of the baby. His lip curled

arrying an edge that made her stomach churn. "Try to look a little more presentabl

knew better. The few words he'd spoken were more than she usually got. This was his way of te

keeping her voice stead

urned to leave, his footsteps echoing down th

ual disregard Austin had for her, but it never got any easier to bear. She wasn't just a caretaker to him. She wasn't even a *real* wi

was the bitterness she had been bottling up for months or the c

going to keep ta

-

headed downstairs. The house felt more like a showroom than a home. Every piece of furniture, every decoration had been chosen to reflect the power and wealth Austin

the world of finance and real estate. Kiana had learned to blend into the background at these events, to sm

background. She wanted to be seen. She wanted something-anything

ression briefly scanning her appearance. It was a quick, assessing look, an

she watched him-how effortlessly he moved in the world, how he commanded attention with a single glance. A

, a sharply dressed woman with dark ha

ou?" the woman asked, her t

smile and nodde

Kiana could see the judgment in her eyes. "It must be hard, being married

her composure. "It's not always easy," she said

g some kind of secret. "I've heard things," she said, almost too

tin's relationship with her late sister-how he had loved her so deeply and how, after her death, he had been left to raise their son alo

h her thoughts. "It must be

on rise within her, but she refused to show it. "I'm doing

insidious in her gaze. "Of course you are. But j

-

siness as always, while she remained on the outskirts of their conversations. She moved through the evening like a ghost, invisible, unnoticed, b

t with polite smiles and empty pleasantries. Kiana, once again alone in the silence o

that someone see her. She wanted Austin to look at her, to see t

d, she sta

nce was all

-

, and the emotional toll of living in Austin's shadow. It also introduces more of the external pressure s