Damon didn’t hesitate–he slammed the guy to the ground and started swinging. His fists landed again and again, merciless, until the whole group was left bloodied and whimpering on the floor.
“We’re sorry, Mr. Raines! Please, we’re sorry! Just let us go!” they begged.-
“Get out,” Damon snapped, his voice sharp with rage. “If any of you show your faces around her again, I’m gonna kick your ass.”
That was all it took. The guys scrambled away, tripping over themselves to get as far from Damon as possible.
People crowded the stairwell, watching the whole thing unfold like it was the best drama they’d seen all week.
Damon ignored them, focusing only on Lea. He helped her up, his voice softening. “Are you
hurt?”
Lea collapsed into his arms, sobbing, her face buried in his chest. “My ankle… I think I twisted it. It hurts.”
His jaw tightened. Without another word, he scooped her up and pushed through the crowd, moving fast. In his rush, he didn’t even notice when he accidentally knocked Emily to the ground. Her head hit the stairs hard, splitting the skin. Blood started running down her forehead, making everyone gasp.
“She’s bleeding! Someone call 911!” someone shouted.
Emily winced, her face pale and sweaty. Warm blood trickled down her fingers and onto her lashes, heavy and sticky.
She watched as Damon walked away with Lea in his arms. He didn’t even look back. Bitterness filled her mouth.
It hadn’t always been like this. Once, when she’d cut her finger making soup for him, Damon had fussed over her for hours, refusing to rest until a doctor checked her hand. He’d kissed her fingers and whispered, “Emily, you’re the most important person in my life. When you’re hurt, it hurts me more. Things are better now, so you don’t have to take care of everything. One day, you’ll wear the ring I give you, and I want your hands to look perfect with it.”
But now, she was bleeding, and he didn’t care. The ring he’d promised her was already on someone else’s finger.
The ambulance took Emily to the hospital. She registered, saw the doctor, picked up her meds, and by the time she got home, it was almost morning.
That night, pain kept her awake. She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Damon never came home.
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Chapter 3
The next morning, exhausted, she changed her bandage and checked her phone. There it was Lea’s latest post went viral: a video of Damon, kneeling at her feet, gently massaging her ankle. treating her like she was made of glass.
Emily watched it over and over, her eyes burning, until finally, she fell into a restless sleep.
When she woke again, it was already dark outside.
Her phone buzzed nonstop. She picked up, and Damon’s voice came through, flat and cold “Riverside Grille. Private room 703. Come now.”
Emily hesitated, then forced herself out of bed. She washed up and headed out.
The moment she opened the door to the private room, she saw Lee. Her eyes were red, looking heartbreakingly innocent and fragile.
Damon was staring at Emily, silent, his expression heavy and unreadable.
The silence stretched until Emily couldn’t take it anymore. “You called me. What do you want?*
Damon sat up straighter, hands clasped, every inch the man in charge. “Emily, did you send those guys last night to hurt her on purpose?”
Emily froze. She glanced at Lea, just in time to catch the smug glint in her eyes.
Suddenly, everything made sense. Lea had staged the whole thing.
Emily let out a bitter laugh. “No. I don’t know those men. I’d never do something like that.”
Damon’s face didn’t change.
He looked down, voice calm but distant. “Emily, the day Lea walked away from me, I let her go. You’ve been with me seven years; you should know where my heart is. The Peffer family might be struggling, but that doesn’t mean you get to take it out on her. You don’t need to make her life harder for my sake.”
Emily felt her chest tighten.
She remembered every sleepless night, every moment she’d stood by him, every desperate trip to another hospital, searching for a cure. She remembered the day they said he’d never see again, the way he went silent, broken.
He’d been the golden boy before all of it. And for a girl, he’d lost everything.
Those seven years were filled with pain, and now they all meant nothing.
She pictured that marriage certificate–his name and Lea’s, side by side. Her eyes stung. “Seven years… I can’t believe it took me this long to realize who you really cared about.”
Damon’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Emily shook her head, her smile brittle. “It means I’m just the maid’s daughter. You think I could hire thugs to mess with a rich girl like her?”
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Chapter 3
She’d laid it all out, but Damon still didn’t believe her.
She was so tired. She took a shaky breath and let it go. “If you don’t trust me, then just tell me–what do you want me to do?”
Damon rubbed his temples. “Apologize, Emily. If you made a mistake, you need to say you’re
sorry.”
Lea, who’d been sitting quietly, suddenly spoke up, her voice soft but clear. “No need for
apologies. If you’re really sorry, Emily, you can just drink these.” She nodded at the tray of vodka
shots on the table.
