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Gilded Hearts
publish date:
2025-10-02 12:41:32-----------Glimpse-----------
The stillness of the penthouse felt just like some gilded cage pushing me down.
I still could hear my mother’s rasping breaths in my head alongside seeing a hopeful smile on my brother’s face when I told him about tuition. Survival along with books in addition to breath that is what the money represented for me.
Under a man who looked directly at me as though I were some poison wrapped up in pearls, I found myself still wrapped well in silk I’d never truly own.
With sleeves rolled up and jaw clenched, Damian stood on the other side of the room. A particular storm brewed within Damian's eyes.
“You think I don’t see through you?” His voice was sharp, practiced cruelty.
“Marrying me was just your ticket. Admit it. You got what you wanted: my name and my money. Isn’t that what gold diggers dream of?”
The word seared through me. For a moment, I almost believed him. Hadn’t I signed my name on that contract, bartered my freedom for funds? What else was it but a transaction?
I had sold myself, even if it wasn’t for diamonds and gowns but for hospital bills and textbooks. My chest tightened with shame; I couldn’t quite swallow.
“I never wanted your money for me,” I snapped, my voice trembling against the fire in his. “I wanted it for my family. For a roof over their heads, for medicine to keep my mother alive. But you wouldn’t understand that, would you? Because everything in your world comes served on a silver platter.”
Damian closed the distance in two strides, his face inches from mine. His anger was a heat I could feel against my skin. “Don’t play the martyr. You’re no different from the low-class women who throw themselves at me for a taste of wealth. You just wear your desperation better.”
The insult burned, but before I could hurl words back, his mouth was on mine. It wasn’t tender; it was a punishment, a forceful claiming.
I pushed at his chest, fists curling in defiance, but his grip was iron at my waist. And the worst betrayal? My body wavered. The resistance bled into something else, something I hated myself for. My lips betrayed me, pressing back against his, a spark catching fire where there should have been nothing but ice.
The kiss deepened, reckless and consuming, carrying us backward until the bed caught me. He followed without breaking the pull, and for a fleeting heartbeat.
He was kissing me hungrily, while his hands keeps on moving from my breasts to my ass
I forgot everything: Edward’s deal, the money, and the venom in Damian’s words. It was only us, tangled in a kiss that felt like it could destroy and save in the same breath.
Then, just as suddenly, he tore away. The loss of him was a whiplash, air rushing back into my lungs. I looked in his eyes until they landed dark and unreadable, and before the certainty of a bare crack of his hand hit the air to my cheek.
The pain burned deep without a sound; I felt air drive deep to my ear, but it was his words that ripped me in two.
"You are nothing but a whore," he smirked, voice like melted sugar, and spoke terribly with disdain.
"A woman who has no self-respect."
The taste was still sharper on my lips, bitter as ash. I grabbed my stinging cheek, thinking about if this was what Damien meant: a man who clearly despised me, and I despised myself for even wanting him back a few moments before.
Damian’s gaze raked over me with venom, his voice low and merciless.
“This marriage will be a nightmare for you, Sophia. And I’ll make sure of it.”
"The countdown to your disaster begins right now," he spat and walked out.
The words cut deeper than did the slap since they promised torment and the silence. At that moment, I realized survival in this marriage would be another kind of battlefield.
Love had no place here, only fire and ruin.
Latest chapter
Gilded Hearts Chapter 47
Sophia POVI don’t think I actually slept,.Not properly.It was the kind of night where your body gives up before your mind does,. Every time I drifted-, something dragged me back—the cold floor beneath me-, the stiffness in my spine, or worse,.His voice.It didn’t echo loudly.It lingered.Morning came quietly,.A thin strip of light slipped through the curtains and stretched across the room—stopping just short of where I lay on the floor,.Of course it did,.I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before forcing myself to move,. My muscles protested immediately-, a dull ache settling deep into my back and shoulders,.I sat up slowly-, inhaling through it,.I stood, adjusting my clothes, smoothing out creases that didn’t really matter,. The room still carried the silence of last night,.Damien was on the bed,.Asleep.Unbothered.For a moment, I watched him.Not with anger.With distance.Then I looked away.I picked up the pillow he had thrown at me,. It felt heavier now—not phy
Gilded Hearts Chapter 46
Sophia POVBy the time the dishes were washed and the kitchen was finally quiet again-, the apartment had settled into a heavy silence,.The city lights outside the glass walls flickered against the dark marble floors-, stretching long reflections across the living room,.I dried my hands slowly-, hanging the towel back in its place,.My body felt exhausted-, but my mind refused to quiet down,.Dinner.The table.His words.You’re staff in this house now.The sentence replayed in my head like something stuck on repeat.I inhaled slowly.Fine.If that was the role he had decided to force on me, then I would survive it. Just long enough to find something else,. Just long enough to walk away from this place without needing anything from him,.I turned off the kitchen lights and walked toward the hallway,.The bedroom door stood slightly open,.For two months, that room had been ours.Not perfect. Not easy.But… real.Apparently I had imagined most of it.I pushed the door open,.The room
Gilded Hearts Chapter 45
Sophia POVBy the time dinner was ready-, the kitchen smelled faintly of roasted garlic and warm spices,.I had spent longer than necessary preparing it,.The dishes sat arranged on the counter-, steam rising softly from them,.Rice,. Stir-fried vegetables,. Grilled chicken,.Simple, clean food,.Not extravagant.But done properly.I wiped my hands on a towel and carried the plates to the dining table,.The apartment was quiet except for the distant hum of the city outside the glass walls,. Footsteps echoed from the hallway,. Damien entered the dining area just as I finished setting the table,.His presence filled the space immediately,.He was wearing a T-shirt and joggers as his gaze moved from the table to me,.“So,” he said calmly, “the staff has begun working.”I ignored the comment.“Dinner is ready,.”He pulled out a chair and sat down slowly-, studying the plates in front of him like they were objects under inspection,.For a moment he didn’t speak,.He simply picked up his f
Gilded Hearts Chapter 44
Sophia POVThe drive back from Hayes Global felt heavier than ever.This morning, I had walked in with quiet defiance.Now, I walked into the penthouse with clarity.He had done this deliberately.I could have argued there. I could have demanded answers in the lobby-, insisted on being escorted upstairs-, forced someone to call him out of that board meeting,.But I didn’t,.I didn’t want whispers trailing behind me in marble corridors. I didn’t want my humiliation turning into office gossip by lunchtime. Hayes Global was still a place I had respected—still a place I had worked hard in. I wouldn’t turn it into a spectacle.So I left.As I returned to the apartmentEvery step echoed in the silence of the apartment as I set my bag down on the console table. The space felt too large. Too empty. Like it was waiting.Before doing anything else, I pulled out my phone.Edward Hayes.For a moment, my thumb hovered over his name.I wasn’t calling to complain. I wasn’t calling to accuse his gran
Gilded Hearts Chapter 43
Sophia POVDarkness came back in fragments.Not gently.First, the cold.It crept across my skin before my mind fully woke-, cool air brushing over my bare shoulders, my legs, and my stomach,. The sheets beneath me were smooth and expensive-, but they felt like ice,.Then the silence.Too quiet.My eyes fluttered open,.The room was dim-, the city lights bleeding faint gold through the curtains. For a second-, I didn’t move. My body felt heavy, disconnected-, like I had borrowed it from someone else,.Then memory rushed back.My breath caught sharply,.I pushed myself upright too fast-, dizziness spinning the room,. The blanket slid from my lap, and the realization hit with humiliating clarity,.I was still half naked,.Only my underwear clung to me,. My T-shirt lay discarded near the foot of the bed,. My pajama bottoms were somewhere on the floor,.Damian was gone,.The side of the bed where he had stood loomed empty,. The door to the bedroom was slightly ajar,. No sound from the hal
Gilded Hearts Chapter 42
Damien POVThe heavy doors of the penthouse felt like a prison I had finally unlocked.I checked my watch. Past midnight.Three months.For three months, I had played a part. I had been the good grandson. The kind husband. I had sat through dull dinners-, nodded at meaningless conversations, and pretended I cared about Sophia’s small, insignificant life,.Today, the lawyers confirmed it,.The inheritance was mine.I didn’t have to pretend anymore,.I pushed the door open, a dark sense of freedom curling through me,.She was there, waiting—like she always did. Her eyes held that soft, irritating concern that had once made my skin crawl,.“You’re so late-,” she said quietly,.“I know.”I dropped my jacket and loosened my tie,. The mask slid off with the fabric. I didn’t need to smile at her again. I didn’t need to soften my voice.She stood, reflexively helpful. “Do you want dinner? I can warm it up.”I didn’t answer,.I walked straight toward her-, closing the space between us until sh
Gilded Hearts Chapter 33
Damian POVI was checking my phone when the elevator doors opened,.I looked up out of habit—nothing more—and forgot how to breathe,.Sophia stepped into the lobby like she belonged there,. Not because of the hotel, or Paris, or the fact that my last name followed hers now—but because she looked se
Gilded Hearts Chapter 32
Sophia POVFor the rest of the week-, I perfected the art of absence,. I woke early-, left before Damian stirred-, and filled my days with Andrea—cafés tucked into narrow streets-, long walks along the Tiber-, museums where no one knew my name or my last name or the price tag attached to it,. I lea
Gilded Hearts Chapter 31
Sophia POVThe music wrapped around us like a living thing, heavy and warm, but when his hand settled lightly at my back, the noise softened. Not disappeared, just faded into something manageable.Comfortable.That was the strangest part.I wasn’t performing,. I was just… moving,. For the first tim
Gilded Hearts Chapter 30
Damien POVThe door closed behind her without a sound,.Sophia Rivera walked out of the room like she had already decided I wasn’t worth waiting for., and I stayed where I was-, still-, unmoving-, staring at the empty space she’d left behind-, as though the air itself had memorized her shape,.I to
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