Chapter three

Sophia stood in the doorway for several seconds after Damien's warning.

His words form a dagger in her chest.

She tightened her grip on the door handle but refused to turn around.

Three years.

Three years of loving him. Three years of believing that she knew the man standing behind her.

And yet, in a single evening, Damien had shown her that she had never truly known him at all.

Humiliation burned through her, followed by a sharp ache in her chest.

She had been nothing more than a replacement.

Someone to fill an empty space until the woman he actually wanted came back into his life.

Sophia slowly turned around. “Your fiancée?”

Her voice was surprisingly calm. She took an unsteady step toward him.

“So that's what I was?” she said, staring at his face.

Damien's expression remained cold. “A temporary substitute while you waited for the real woman?”

He didn't answer. His silence hurt more than any words could have.

Sophia gave a bitter smile. “I see.”

She wiped the tear that had escaped down her cheek. “You know what? I almost feel sorry for myself.”

Damien frowned.

“I was bored already,” he said. “Bored and tired. I needed something different. Someone who actually fits into my world. What part of this don't you get? Do I need to spell it out for you?"

Sophia stared at him. “You were bored?”

Her voice cracked. “For three years, Damien?”

She took another step forward. “Three whole years? And you dare tell me that you were bored."

Damien remained silent. He simply looked at her like a man who was not guilty of the allegations levelled against him.

“I gave you my heart.” Her voice trembled. “I gave you everything I had. My time. My attention. My trust. What else could you possibly want?"

Still, Damien was silent.

She swallowed hard. “And not once did you think I deserved the truth?”

Damien's jaw tightened. Instead of answering, he looked away.

That hurt even more.

“Instead, you let me walk into this apartment today believing you were going to propose to me.”

Her eyes burned. “Do you know what I did today?”

Damien looked at her.

“I spent months saving for your anniversary gift. I skipped things I wanted because I wanted to give you something meaningful.”

She laughed bitterly. “And all this time, you were preparing to give your ring to another woman.”

Desiré smiled faintly beside him.

Sophia's stomach twisted.

“On a day that was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life, you chose to humiliate me.”

“I didn't humiliate you,” Damien replied coldly. “You showed up here unannounced. And the fact that you actually thought I was going to give you a diamond ring makes me sick.”

Sophia stared at him, then something inside her hardened.

“The fact that you still can't admit what you did is unbelievable.”

She lifted her chin.

“I caught you cheating, Damien. And instead of apologizing, you found another way to make me feel guilty for discovering the truth.”

“I never asked you to come here.”

“No.”

Sophia nodded slowly. “You didn't.”

She looked around the bedroom.

“I came here because I trusted you.”

Her voice became quieter. “That was my mistake.”

Damien scoffed.

Sophia shook her head.

“I can't believe I spent three years dating a man like you.”

She wiped another tear from her cheek.

“Every time you're caught doing something wrong, you twist the story and blame someone else instead of taking responsibility.”

Her jaw tightened.

“You know what the most disappointing part is?”

Damien said nothing.

“It isn't even the cheating.”

She looked directly into his eyes.

“It's realizing that the man I loved doesn't have the courage to be honest.”

For the first time, something flickered across Damien's face.

But Sophia didn't care anymore. She took a step backward.

Her heel touched something hard.

She glanced down.

Her hair clip.

The same clip that had fallen from her hair earlier.

She bent down to pick it up and then she saw it.

A diamond.

Sophia's fingers froze.

Her eyes slowly moved toward Fiona's hand and then to the ring.

Her breath caught.

She knew that ring.

She had seen the receipt weeks ago.

The same ring she had spent countless nights imagining on her finger.

The ring she had believed was proof that Damien had secretly been planning their future.

Except it wasn't hers. It had never been hers.

A slow breath escaped her lips.

“I guess the ring finally found its rightful owner.”

Damien glanced at Fiona's hand.

“It belongs to her.”

His voice held no hesitation.

“She deserves it. She was always the woman I intended to marry.”

Something inside Sophia went strangely quiet.

For the first time that night, she felt nothing.

No anger, No desperation and No desire to make him explain but emptiness.

“Fine.”

Damien's eyebrows lifted.

He had clearly expected tears.

Perhaps he expected her to beg.

Maybe he expected her to ask him to choose her but Sophia had nothing left to give him.

She looked at him and realized something painfully simple.

A relationship built on lies was never going to survive the truth.

She had been so blinded by love that she had refused to see the ugly side of him.

She had only seen the version he wanted her to see.

The caring boyfriend.

The supportive partner.

The man who remembered her coffee order and knew when she was anxious.

It had all been an act.

Sophia gave him one last look.

“I hope she's worth it.”

Damien's expression hardened.

Sophia turned toward the door.

“I’m done with your lies, your games, and your narcissistic behavior.”

She reached for the handle.

“Sophia.”

She stopped.

For one foolish second, her heart betrayed her.

She wondered if he was going to apologize but he didn't.

“Don't come crawling back to me when you realize what you've lost,” Damien said coldly.

Sophia closed her eyes.

Then she smiled.

It wasn't a happy smile.

It was the smile of someone who had finally stopped hoping.

She didn't turn around.

“You should be more worried about what you've lost.”

Then she walked away.

*************

The following afternoon, Damien sat in a sleek black leather chair on the top floor of Cole Enterprises.

His expression was unreadable as he stared through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking New York.

His phone vibrated against the desk.

He ignored it. But then, he heard a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

Zion, his secretary, walked inside with a tablet pressed against her chest. Two security officers followed behind her.

She stopped in front of his desk.

“Good afternoon, sir.”

Damien shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of his chair.

“Any updates?”

“Yes, boss.”

Zion tapped her tablet.

“We received an offer from Geo Network Corporation.”

Damien looked up.

“And?”

“They're offering Cole Enterprises Sixty percent of their company.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Sixty percent?”

Zion nodded.

“They're drowning in debt. Their profits have fallen drastically over the past few months, and their creditors are already demanding payment.”

She paused.

“They're close to bankruptcy.”

Damien leaned back. “So they want our money.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And they're willing to give me more than half the company in exchange.”

“That appears to be the situation.”

A faint smile touched Damien's lips. “In business, desperation is expensive.”

He stood and adjusted his cufflinks. “Reply to them.”

Zion waited.

“Tell them I've received their proposal. I'm willing to consider it, but nothing is final until our legal department reviews every document.”

“Yes, boss.”

“And Zion?”

“Yes?”

“If there is even one suspicious clause, I want to know about it before they do.”

She nodded. “Understood.”

Zion glanced at her tablet again.

“The board meeting has been moved to noon. The quarterly reports are on your desk, and your appointment with the Deleux Group has been confirmed.”

“What time?”

“Eight p.m.”

“Where?”

“Zenith Club.”

Damien nodded.

“Move anything unnecessary from my schedule.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zion turned to leave.

“Wait.”

She stopped.

“What else?”

Her expression became slightly uneasy.

“There's one more thing.”

Damien looked at her.

“The media has been talking about you since this morning.”

His expression immediately darkened.

“What?”

“Your name is everywhere.”

“I specifically ordered security to keep reporters away from this building.”

“We did.”

“Then how did they get close enough to report on me?”

Zion hesitated. “We don't know yet.”

Damien's jaw tightened. “Find out.”

“Yes, sir.”

She quickly left.

Damien reached for his phone.

Before he could unlock it, it rang. A name flashed across the screen.

James.

His personal assistant.

Damien answered. “Talk.”

“Good afternoon, boss.”

“What happened?”

“Your grandfather has been trying to reach you.”

Damien's expression hardened.

“What does he want?”

“He wants you at the mansion.”

“Why?”

There was a pause.

“He didn't say.”

Damien rubbed his jaw. “Tell him I'll be there.”

Nathan hesitated. “Boss?”

“What?”

“You should probably see the headlines before you go.”

Damien frowned. “What headlines?”

“Your grandfather told me not to explain anything over the phone.”

Damien's eyes narrowed.

“Then why mention them?”

“Because I think you should know that whatever is happening, it's serious.”

Damien ended the call. He stared at his phone for a moment.

His grandfather didn't summon him without a reason.

And if the old man had something to do with the headlines, Damien knew better than to ignore it.

He grabbed his briefcase and walked out of his office.

Less than thirty minutes later, Damien's black Ferrari spider stopped in front of Cole Mansion.

He stepped out and looked toward the massive estate.

The security gates closed behind him.

Something felt wrong.

He had grown up in this house.

He knew every corridor, every room, every person who worked there.

But tonight, the mansion felt different.