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Peace is a fragile thing

Author: Leelee
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-14 02:00:17

Layla's pov

A few weeks later

I thought peace would feel louder.

Instead, it came in soft silences, in the way Damian and I sat across from each other at the breakfast table, sipping coffee without tension thick in the air. The heavy things—betrayals, lies, grief—they had started to settle. There was still pain, yes, but it didn’t suffocate me anymore.

"You slept through the night," Damian said gently, breaking the quiet.

I smiled over my mug. "For once. You?"

He nodded. "Mostly. I kept checking if you were still there. Just… wanted to make sure."

That vulnerability in his voice made my heart twist. The man who once lived in secrets was now trying to live in truth. With me.

We had come a long way—from shouting in boardrooms, to standing over Celeste’s grave, to finally… this. The world hadn’t gone quiet, but we had found a quiet moment within it.

But peace never lasted long.

The first sign came with a headline.

Damian was reading something on his phone when his jaw tightened. I noti
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  • A Love Forged In Ruins    Love after war

    Layla’s POVThey were escorted out in silence. The doors closed behind them, and the room was finally still.I sat down slowly, my legs too weak to stand. My hands were still shaking, but I felt...lighter. Like a storm had passed through me and taken everything with it.Damian came to my side, gently pulling me into his arms.“We did it,” he whispered into my hair. “It’s over.”I let myself fall into him, the tension melting away in slow waves. My throat tightened, and I didn’t stop the tears that came. Tears of relief. Of exhaustion. Of justice.“You were incredible,” he said. “You held your ground.”“So did you,” I whispered. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”He kissed my forehead. “We’re safe now. Blackwood is safe.”The city stretched out beyond the glass, glowing under the darkening sky. For the first time in weeks, I could breathe. Truly breathe.“They’re going to prison, aren’t they?” I asked.“Yes,” he said. “And everything they tried to destroy—we’ll rebuild it. Strong

  • A Love Forged In Ruins    The confession room

    Layla’s POVThe plan was risky. Dangerous. But it was the only option we had left.Damian and I had spent the entire night in his office, surrounded by files, laptops, coffee cups, and the steady hum of the city outside. Sleep had long since abandoned us. I sat on the floor with documents spread around me while Damian paced near the window, his jaw clenched, his mind spinning like a storm.“We have to get this right,” he said, for the third time that hour.“We will,” I replied, keeping my voice calm, though my heart was racing. “We know how they think. That’s our advantage.”He stopped and looked at me, the dim light catching the worry in his eyes. “Isabel is cunning. She’ll smell a trap if we make even one wrong move.”“And Alexander is a coward,” I added, meeting his gaze. “He talks tough, but he cracks under pressure. We just have to make him sweat.”A flicker of hope crossed Damian’s face. He came to sit beside me, his hand brushing against mine. His touch was warm, grounding me.

  • A Love Forged In Ruins    Standing together

    Layla's pov I woke up before dawn, the city outside still wrapped in darkness. The air felt heavy, like it had been waiting for me to move. Damian was already at his desk by the window, his face half-lit by the glow of his laptop. He hadn’t slept at all. Again. I padded over in bare feet, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “You should rest,” I whispered, even though I knew he wouldn’t. He looked up at me with tired eyes. “I can’t, Layla. Not yet.” His voice was rough, the weight of too many battles pressing on his chest. I pressed my lips to his temple. “Then let me help you. We can’t do this alone.” My voice trembled just a bit, but I refused to let fear rule me. Not anymore. He closed his eyes and sighed. “We’re running out of time. Isabel’s not going to stop, and Alexander—he knows everything about Blackwood, every weakness. He’s using it against me.” The anger in his voice startled me. It was raw, edged with pain. I remembered when Damian used to be so guarded, every emo

  • A Love Forged In Ruins    Lines in the sand

    Layla’s POV The air felt heavy around Blackwood Enterprises, pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket. Even the glass windows seemed to distort the city skyline, bending light in a way that made everything look twisted and unreal. I stood by the door to Damian’s office, watching him as he leaned against the window frame, his head bowed. His profile was sharp in the waning sunlight, every line of his face carved with tension. I wanted to go to him, to hold him, but I hesitated, afraid that even the smallest touch might shatter what little control he had left. “Damian,” I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper. He turned slowly, his eyes dark and distant. They were usually so full of light when he looked at me, but now they were clouded, like the city beyond the glass. “She’s using everything she’s got,” he said, his tone flat, as if all the air had left his lungs. My heart twisted. I crossed the room, my heels clicking against the marble floor, each step sounding like a

  • A Love Forged In Ruins    In the eye of the hurricane

    Layla's pov I could feel the tension in the air as I sat across from Damian in his office. Papers were scattered all over his desk, some of them half-crumpled from the way he’d clutched them in frustration. His face was pale, his eyes dark with worry. I had never seen him like this, so raw and vulnerable. I hated that Isabel and Alexander had done this to him, to us.“Damian,” I began, my voice low but firm, “we can’t let them win. We can’t let them take everything we’ve built.”He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “Layla, I know, but every time I think we’re ahead of them, they strike back twice as hard. Alexander knows too much. Isabel is ruthless. I can’t even trust my own people.”I reached across the desk and took his hand. “You can trust me.”He looked at me, his eyes softening for a brief moment. “I know. I do. You’ve been my rock through all of this.”I squeezed his hand, trying to ignore the tremble in my own. “Then let me help. Let me really help. I’m not just

  • A Love Forged In Ruins    The vote

    Layla's pov I could feel the air getting thicker every day at Blackwood Enterprises. Tension clung to the walls like smoke, wrapping itself around every conversation, every sideways glance, every late-night whisper that never quite reached the surface. It wasn’t just the weight of Isabel’s attacks anymore—it was Damian. He was changing.Not in obvious ways. It was subtle at first—the way his jaw clenched tighter with each passing hour, the way his once-playful smirks became rare and brittle. His replies grew shorter. His presence colder. He stayed longer at the office, sometimes not coming home until dawn, sometimes not at all. Something inside him was unraveling, thread by thread.One night, I found him in his office, bathed in the low glow of a desk lamp, surrounded by piles of documents, contracts, and spreadsheets. His eyes were bloodshot, the shadows beneath them deep and hollow.“Damian, you haven’t slept,” I said quietly, leaning against the doorframe. “Come to bed. Please.”H

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