The rain poured down in icy sheets as Roxie Rebel pulled her coat tighter around her trembling frame. Her heels echoed on the empty streets as she hurried toward the hotel, her heart racing. She wasn’t sure if it was the cold, the thrill of escape, or the thought of who awaited her that made her pulse drum in her ears.

Roxie had spent years trapped in her husband’s world, a life defined by shadows and chains. With him behind bars, his family had kept her close, an unwilling symbol of loyalty. But tonight, for one fleeting moment, she wanted to feel alive again.

Room 403. She hesitated, her hand trembling against the cool brass doorknob. Inside, the man who had ignited her dormant heart sat waiting. Noah had been her forbidden solace, the glimmer of light piercing through the darkness of her life.

She opened the door, and there he stood, his hazel eyes soft but searching. “Roxie,” he whispered, his voice carrying all the longing they’d hidden for so long. She fell into his arms, his warmth chasing away the chill in her soul.

They didn’t speak much—words seemed unnecessary. In that hotel room, amidst the chaos of their forbidden love, Roxie found the passion and tenderness she had been starved of for years.

As dawn crept through the curtains, she knew this night was fleeting, a stolen dream. But for a moment, she had felt what it was like to truly live.