Chapter 24
Rumors about Damon’s so–called devotion were spreading like wildfire online. Some fans got so obsessed, they actually started attacking Emily, calling her ungrateful and heartless.
But everything changed when one of Damon’s old friends–after being pushed to the edge by Damon’s constant attacks–finally snapped. On the verge of bankruptcy, he went online and started spilling all the secrets he knew.
“Emily’s a good person. Back when Damon lost his sight over his ex, it was Emily who stuck by him. She pulled him out of that dark place, waited for him, and was there when he finally got his sight back.”
“But as soon as Damon could see again, his mom suddenly turned on Emily, acting like she wasn’t good enough. Still, Damon defended her, and they seemed happy for a while.”
“Too bad Lea came back. Yeah, Damon’s ex. She cried a little, and Damon–being the idiot he is–went and married her. He actually tried to hide it from Emily.”
“While all that was going on, Lea kept setting Emily up, and the guy you all think is so devoted? He protected Lea and let her mess with Emily until Emily just disappeared.”
“You people online are so gullible. You believe whatever they feed you. Is that what you call true love? He married someone else, got her pregnant, then made her get rid of the baby when things got messy–and even handed his ex over to some creep. If you love that kind of ‘devotion,’ good luck to you.”
With that, Damon’s perfect image completely fell apart. The Raines family tried to wipe everything off social media, but the internet moved faster–and no one was buying it.
Damon was this close to getting Emily’s whereabouts, but after the scandal blew up, everyone who’d thought about helping him just blocked him instead, often after cursing him out. Furious, Damon lashed out even more at his old friend, turning their friendship into bitter hatred. His friend ended up ruined–bankrupt, drowning in debt, with nowhere left to turn.
Eventually, when he lost all hope, Damon’s friend snapped. One day, as Damon was driving out, his friend showed up out of nowhere in a beat–up van and slammed right into him.
The van was totaled. The friend died on the spot. Damon survived–his car was too well–built for anything else but the injuries were brutal. His organs were failing, and worst of all, the crash left him permanently blind. This time, there was no fixing it.
When Damon woke up, everything was pitch black.
He tried to get up, but his whole body felt weightless and weak, like he was floating without
control.
“What… what happened to me?”
Panic set in as the darkness closed in around him. He called out for Emily, over and over, his voice shaking.
Chapter 24
No one answered. Finally, one of the bodyguards, clearly annoyed, snapped at him:
“Stop yelling. Still think you’re some big shot? Your mom said as long as you’re alive, that’s enough. If you can’t deal with it, just disappear–don’t show your face in public again.”
Damon’s voice was hoarse. “What does that mean?”
The guard looked like he might answer, but then footsteps sounded from the hallway, and Lea’s voice floated in, sharp and mocking:
“You’re blind for good now. Do you even get what that means in our world?”
“Your mom dragged me away from that creep and told me to stay with you. After all, you’re still
her son…”
He couldn’t see Lea’s face–just felt her coming closer, then her hand gripping his jaw, hard and cold. Just like he’d once treated her, back when he believed her lies.
“Isn’t it fitting, Damon? People like us–we belong in hell together.”
All he could do was let out a broken, pain–filled groan.
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