CHAPTER 17

The Pact

Damian’s POV

The deal wasn’t written down, because it was simple and straightforward.

Lila and I didn't shake hands. We didn't raise a glass, smile, or do anything fancy to mark the deal. We just sat next to each other, eyes clear and hearts tired. In that mutual, heavy, and honest silence, we promised to carry the weight together.

It wasn't because we were in love. But because we weren’t. And we finally got the nerve to say it.

I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at nothing for a long time after she left my room. Even though I had lived here for years, the room felt strange. The shadows on the wall were longer than normal, as if they were ready for me to step into them.

Her voice kept coming back to me.

“We protect them by protecting each other.”

I understood what she meant down to my bones. But understanding didn’t make it easier.

The next morning, we stepped out of the house side by side like a couple in sync. She had slept over because it was late. I opened the door for her as she put her hand on my arm. Her laugh was soft, her posture relaxed. The cameras loved it. A perfect image of elegance, compatibility, and ease.

But it was all for show.

Inside the car, her smile faded the moment the doors shut.

She leaned back in the car seat and kept her phone in her hand.

I watched her from the corner of my eyes. Her jaw was clenched, not because she was tense, but because she was holding back everything she didn't want to say out loud in the wrong place.

“We’ll need a plan,” I said.

She didn't look up. “I was thinking the same.”

"We plan our appearance together,” I said, focusing on the road.

She finally turned her head toward me. "Weekly plans and three-day looks ahead. No going back on what was agreed upon.”

“What if any plan came up?”

She nodded. “Then we make an exception. One per month. Emergency only.”

I paused. “And if one of us breaks this?”

She didn’t blink. “Then we both walk away. No questions.”

The silence after that felt respectful. We weren’t enemies. Not quite friends, either.

We were something new—partners in crime in a life neither of us asked for.

By the time we got to her father’s brunch event, we had already smiled ten times and practiced our entrance twice. It felt like a show with only one act, and if you forgot a line, you lost the whole thing.

Still, the cameras clicked. And in every picture, I wondered if Eliot was somewhere looking.

If he felt what I felt.

When I got home, the silence hit me like a wall.

I was hoping to see Eliot waiting in the hallway. Maybe sitting on the stairs with that crooked smirk. Or already walking away before I even got close.

But he wasn’t there. Just air and emptiness. Just like I was about to gave you on my stupid expectation, I found him in the garden near the rose

He was sitting on the low wall with one hand on his thigh and the other running through his hair. His coat looked like he hadn't tried to button it because it was a little rumpled. When I walked over, he didn't look at me.

He just stared straight ahead.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

He didn’t move for a second. Then he let out a breath—quiet and bitter.

“About what? Your engagement?.”

I closed my eyes for a beat. “It’s not what you think.”

He laughed in a dull way. “It’s exactly what I think. You’re scared, Damian. And you have decided to crawl back to the version of your life that’s always made sense.”

“I didn’t go crawling,” I said.

“Oh you walked then.”

I took a step closer. "She knows."

My words made him turn his head.

His eyes were sharp. “About us?”

I gave a slow nod. “She knows I’m not in love with her. And also she’s in love with someone else.”

His mouth twitched. “How convenient. So you’re each hiding behind the other.”

“That's not how it is."

He stood up. "How is it then?"

I didn’t know what to say. Because yes—it was exactly like it and It had to be that way or else we’d both fall apart.

“You’re scared,” he said. “And I get it. Believe me I do. But you didn’t even try, Damian.”

“I am trying—”

“No, you’re not. You’re protecting your image. Your father’s name. Your legacy. Not me.”

His voice broke at the end, and that's when I saw it.

The pain. Not just anger or betrayal. But the kind of pain that comes from being pushed away by someone who said they would stay close.

“I kissed you because you mean the world to me,” I said. “Because you are.”

“But now you’re back in the photos,” he shot back. “Back in the suits. Back in the headlines like none of this matters.”

“I didn’t choose her over you Eliot.”

“But you chose what she offered you.”

I took a step toward him.“I chose safety. For you. For her. For all of us.”

He turned away. “Stop pretending like you did it for me.”

I tried to touch his arm, but he jerked back.

“Don’t,” he said.

“Eliot—”

"You made your choice. And yet you kissed me like I was the most important thing in the world.” He took a deep breath. “Then let me go."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“Would you still kiss me,” he asked, his voice low, “if there was no curtain to hide behind?”

The silence between us snapped tight like a stretched wire.

"I don't know,” I said in a whisper

That was the worst answer I could have given.

Eliot gave a nod and backed away.

“I thought maybe… just maybe, you’d fight. For yourself. For me.”

Then he turned around and left.

And I didn’t follow him. Because I didn’t know if I deserved to.

That night, I sat in my room with the light turned off.

The walls felt smaller than usual.

Again and again, I scrolled through my phone for anything that might make me feel hopeful. A word from him. A message. So I could fix the mistake.

But there was nothing.

There is only the quiet hum of the city outside and the cold light from my screen.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed indicating a message. I quickly opened it, hoping it was from Eliot but—

The message was from an unknown miner with just seven words:

“The next leak goes to the press.”

My stomach turned into stone, my hands trembled.

And I realized for the first time—

No longer was this just a threat

It was a weapon against me.