Chapter 14 — Surprise!

Narrator:

The clock showed he was half an hour late, but Sasha kept looking toward the door expectantly, nervously fiddling with her cutlery. Aylin tried to appear calm, but with every passing minute she felt more tension tightening her chest.

When they finally heard the front door open, Sasha jumped up.

Roman's footsteps echoed in the hallway before his figure appeared in the dining room doorway, imposing even after a long journey, with an effortless presence that filled the room.

Aylin forced herself to remain composed as she stood up alongside Sasha.

“Surprise!” exclaimed the teenager, raising her arms with a genuine smile, proud of her small gesture.

Roman paused, taken aback for a moment, as if he had not expected any of this.

His gaze swept over the perfectly set table, the lit candles, the carefully arranged plates.

“What's this?” he asked in a low voice, hoarse from the fatigue of the trip, but full of curiosity. As he hugged his daughter and re