<h4>Chapter 316: No Break For The Heart</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    By the time River started giving the final finishing touches to his dishes, the kitchen was smelling warm and heavenly. A mix of spices, herbs, and that rich savory scent of roasted chicken filled the air, making my stomach curl with impatience.


    But I kept myself busy with the counter so I wouldn’t stare at him like an idiot... again.


    I wiped the marble surface clean, polished it until it gleamed beneath the lights, and neatly set up the cutlery. Forks, spoons, tes, and water sses... all aligned as perfectly as possible. It gave me something to do, a reason to keep my hands upied, and more importantly, it kept my eyes away from him as he ted the dishes.


    When I carried thest te over, I realized something I hadpletely overlooked. We weren’t going to eat in the dining hall tonight. It was just the two of us, so we were eating here at the kitchen counter.


    Which meant... we would be sitting side by side.


    I froze with the te still in my hands. The image shed in my head - the two of us sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, arms brushing, his presence seeping into every breath I took. There was no way I would be able to focus on food, let alone enjoy it, like that.


    Quickly, before he could turn around and notice, I slid one of the three stools away and angled the other two just slightly apart. Not too far... just enough space so it wouldn’t look strange, but also enough so that I wouldn’t feel trapped under the weight of his closeness.


    Satisfied, I sat down on the stool with a tiny smile tugging at my lips. Perfect. This way, I could breathe properly without my pulse betraying me every second.


    River finally untied his apron and set it aside, rolling his sleeves further up as he washed his hands. He looked maddeningly casual, like he hadn’t just cooked an entire dinner with the ease of a seasoned chef. He wiped his hands and walked over to the counter with that effortless grace of his.


    My heart stuttered. <i>Please don’t notice</i>, I begged silently.


    If he did notice, he didn’t show it. His expression remained calm and unreadable as he took the stool next to mine. I almost rxed, my shoulders loosening. Maybe, just maybe, I had seeded.


    Until his hand reached out.


    In one smooth motion, he gripped my stool and pulled it toward him.


    The scrape of wood against marble echoed in the silent kitchen, and before I could even process what was happening, I found myself right beside him again, exactly where I hadn’t wanted to be.


    My eyes flew to his face, wide with disbelief. He didn’t look at me. Didn’t acknowledge my shock. His attention remained firmly on the food in front of us, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.


    I was speechless. Completely stunned and breathless. My heart was hammering so hard I thought he might actually hear it.


    How could he just do something like that?


    I wanted to say something... anything... but then he calmly picked up a piece of golden-brown chicken with his fork and ced it onto my te. His gaze met mine briefly, steady and quiet, before he tilted his chin slightly, urging me with his eyes to taste the food he had cooked with so much care and... love.


    Swallowing hard, I forced myself to break eye contact. I couldn’t sit here and let him unravel me with just one look.


    The chicken melted on my tongue, bursting with vor, but I barely registered the taste. My mind was too tangled up in the fact that his presence was so close, his warmth brushing against my senses like a second skin.


    Ever since he confessed to me and our bond came into existence, he had been nothing like his usual self. Maybe he stopped being his usual cold self even long before that evening, but nothing from those days couldpare in the slightest with his current behavior.


    The only simrity between the current River and the River before the night of his confession was that both of them held the power to make my heart race... just for entirely opposite reasons.


    However, I had started missing the previous River... he was so much easier to deal with.


    The next twenty minutes passed in silence. Pure, unbroken silence.


    And though my heart never stopped racing like a fool, I was grateful nothing else happened. At least I could focus on eating without worrying about another shock... though "focus" was a strong word when every nerve in my body was painfully aware of the man seated beside me.


    When the tes were nearly empty, I volunteered to clean up the counter. Anything to keep moving, to avoid sitting here any longer under his invisible pressure. He didn’t argue, only carried the dishes to the sink and began washing them with an ease that surprised me.


    We fell into a rhythm again - him rinsing and me wiping down surfaces, putting things back in order. I deliberately worked slower than usual, timing my pace with his so we would finish together.


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    Part of me hoped this was where our evening would end. That once thest dish was set aside, I could excuse myself, retreat to my room, and give my pounding heart a chance to calm down.


    But then, I remembered. This was River.


    He never did what I expected... or wanted.


    When he set the final dish on the rack, he dried his hands with a towel. I nced at him briefly, just for a second, and froze when his eyes lifted to meet mine.


    There was something there... something unreadable, yetmanding enough to make me straighten instinctively.


    And then he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, "We are going to enjoy a warm bath together."


    The towel slipped from my fingers.