Her Shell

"Roland, I like you, I always have!"

Roland just stared blankly at her. It took him several moments to regain his composure.

But even then, his mind was in turmoil, confused by those words. It was only at this point that Roland realized that he'd just made out with Veronica.

'Um… what? What just happened?'

He'd been lying there when he'd suddenly felt someone's lips pressing against his. Although he'd panicked, he'd gone with it in the end. A beautiful woman had been pressing herself against him, he would've been a fool to force himself away.

But now, it clicked that said beautiful woman was Veronica.

'Oh God, what have I done? She's like a sister to me; this is wrong!'

He glanced at Veronica who was fidgeting nervously, waiting for his response.

'But I'd be lying if I said that I had no feelings for her.'

A light sigh escaped his mouth. That was the first time he'd admitted that to himself.

'Haha. Look at me. I finally decided to stop crushing on Anna, and here comes another beautiful girl. That's wrong; Roni has always been there for me…'

As Roland thought about it, he remembered how Veronica had always staunchly supported him throughout the years.

'She's always been by my side. Every time something happens, good or bad, Veronica is there. She's one of the few constants in my life.

'As the owner of a company, it's impossible to be sure that someone isn't after my wealth, but I know Roni isn't like that.

'If I weigh up pros and cons, Roni has no cons, and for pros…

'I think I do love her…'

Roland turned to face Veronica with a serious expression.

The nerves seemed to get to Veronica, as she tensely stammered, "I-if you do-don't f-feel the same w-way, w-we can j-just go b-back to how t-things w—"

Before she could finish her words, Roland pulled her into his embrace.

"I'm sorry, Roni," he said. "I'm sorry for not noticing your feelings before. I'm sorry for not noticing my own feelings before. I'm sorry this didn't happen sooner."

When she heard those words, Veronica broke down. Sobbing into Roland's shoulder, the tension she'd felt seem to flood out of her in the tears, soaking into Roland's shirt. She gripped his shirt sleeves firmly, scared to let go.

Years of feelings had been bottled up inside of her, bubbling up into a raging tempest of emotions. This flood of tears was all those stifled emotions being released; the relief she felt was immense.

Veronica had opened her heart to him, and Roland had accepted her. When she'd declared her feelings, she'd been like a turtle without a shell, vulnerable. But being in Roland's embrace, all worries and fears seemed to drift away; she felt safe; he was her shell.

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Remember, if we reach 75 power stones, I'll do double releases next week. If we reach 150 (a stretch, I know), I'll do triple releases. So throw your power stones at the novel if you want more!

Also, I would like to gather more feedback. So, if we get another 5 reviews (taking the total to 11 reviews), I'll release 2 bonus chapters at the end of the week. I would like honest feedback, so even if you feel like giving one star, go ahead, but please give me a reason for the rating so I can improve!